Alberta will take a big step to reduce COVID-19 health restrictions on March 1.
The province said positivity rates have continued to decline since Feb. 8 when Alberta began step one of its plan to reduce restrictions. Hospitalizations in intensive and non-intensive care have also steadily declined and are at the lowest levels since Jan. 22.
“I am pleased to see that the stress on our health-care system continues to lessen. Not only does this allow us to ease more public health measures, it also reduces the pressure and strain on our dedicated health-care workers who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to provide expert care to Albertans,” said Health Minister Jason Copping in a statement over the weekend.
Effective March 1, Alberta will begin step two, which will include the end of limits on social gatherings, capacity limits for large venues, remaining school requirements, screening of youth for activities, the mandatory work-from-home order and public masking requirements except in high-risk settings.
Under step two, masking requirements in high-risk settings will continue, including at Alberta Health Services facilities, continuing care centres and on public transit. Isolation remains mandatory for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result. These public health protections will remain in place until step three, which will occur at a later date provided hospitalizations continue to decline.
“Over the last three weeks, cases and hospitalizations have continued to drop as we have started lifting restrictions. This promising trend puts Alberta in a position to safely remove the majority of remaining public health measures. This is a good day for Albertans as we get another step closer to getting back to normal,” said Premier Jason Kenney.
Additional details on all restrictions and measures in place are available at alberta.ca/CovidMeasures.