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Alberta introduces new rules, passport as COVID puts health system days from collapse

Alberta has more than 18,000 active COVID-19 cases

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, facing a COVID-19 crisis that is threatening to collapse its health system in just over a week, has reintroduced limits on gatherings along with elements of a vaccine passport system.

Alberta is also asking for help from other provinces to use their intensive care beds and staff while prepping its triage protocols, which would see doctors forced to choose who gets life-saving treatment and who does not.

The United Conservative government declared Wednesday a state of public health emergency.

B次元官网网址淲e may run out of staff and intensive care beds within the next 10 days,B次元官网网址 Kenney said.

B次元官网网址淯nless we slow (virus) transmission, particularly amongst unvaccinated Albertans, we simply will not be able to provide adequate care to everyone who gets sick.B次元官网网址

Alberta has 269 patients in intensive care in a system set up for 173. Of the 269 patients in ICUs, 218 have COVID-19 B次元官网网址 the vast majority unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

There have been mass cancellations of non-urgent surgeries throughout the province B次元官网网址 transplants, some cancer treatments and childrenB次元官网网址檚 surgeries, as staff are reassigned to COVID-19 care.

Dr. Verna Yiu, the head of Alberta Health Services, said the health system has never had so many people in intensive care at one time.

Triage has not been activated yet, she said, but staff are being briefed on rules and processes.

B次元官网网址淚f activated, the triage will be provincial in scope (and) applicable to all health facilities and critical care units in Alberta,B次元官网网址 said Yiu.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Twitter that Ottawa is prepared to help.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l be there with ventilators, vaccines and people. In the meantime stay safe, get vaccinated and help each other.B次元官网网址

Alberta has more than 18,000 active COVID-19 cases, by far the highest in Canada.

It has been lagging on vaccinations, with less than 72 per cent of those 12 and older, who are eligible, fully immunized.

To stem transmission, KenneyB次元官网网址檚 government introduced an array of measures including a form of the vaccine passport.

Several provinces are bringing in the passports, which compel people to prove they have been vaccinated before being allowed to use non-essential services.

Kenney had resisted such measures for health privacy reasons. But critics said he did so to prevent a revolt by anti-restriction members of his caucus.

Kenney said he was reluctant to approve what he called, not a passport, but a B次元官网网址渞estriction exemption program.B次元官网网址

B次元官网网址淲ith unvaccinated patients overwhelming now our hospitals, this is now the only responsible choice that we have,B次元官网网址 he said.

Starting Sept. 20, people will need to show proof of vaccination to enter select non-essential businesses, including retail shops, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, concerts and libraries.

However, businesses that opt out of the program can operate at reduced capacity and with distancing rules or restrictions, such as no more than six people at a table in a restaurant.

There is a welter of other rules to reduce capacity at weddings, funerals and private social gatherings starting Thursday.

Mandatory work-from-home orders are also in place unless itB次元官网网址檚 essential a worker is on-site. Masking in schools, previously left to school boards, is now mandatory for students in Grade 4 and up, along with staff and teachers.

Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the necessary measures were sadly preventable.

B次元官网网址淭his is a crisis of this premier and his cabinetB次元官网网址檚 own making.B次元官网网址

She said Kenney pushed Alberta faster and harder than any other province and refused to act for weeks when it was obvious something had to be done.

B次元官网网址淗e refused to take responsibility. He blamed in fact low vaccination rates for the fact that he ignored the evidence and went into hiding.

B次元官网网址淲hat we saw today from the premier was not an apology. It was an embarrassing attempt to duck responsibility.B次元官网网址

Kenney pushed back on suggestions that he and his government are to blame for the crisis. His government lifted nearly all health restrictions on July 1 despite warnings of the Delta variant. No action was taken through the summer as cases and hospitalizations soared.

At the time, Kenney triumphantly announced COVID-19 was on the wane and mocked reporters who warned of the Delta variant. He announced there was no Plan B for high hospitalization rates because the government didnB次元官网网址檛 foresee it happening.

Earlier this week, the provinceB次元官网网址檚 chief medical health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, acknowledged the decision to drop restrictions was wrong and that it lit the fuse on the skyrocketing caseload.

Kenney apologized for misreading COVIDB次元官网网址檚 predicted path in June but said he wasnB次元官网网址檛 sorry for lifting all restrictions. He said he didnB次元官网网址檛 think a COVID-weary population would continue to follow them.

B次元官网网址 The Canadian Press





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