Above is the live feed of Tuesday’s pandemic update. Morinville Online will update this story with details later this evening.
After days of increased COVID-19 numbers, speculation on possible provincial restrictions, and the spreading of the hashtag #whereskenney, Premier Jason Kenney held a press conference Tuesday on the province’s new COVID-9 restrictions for Alberta.
Minister of Health Tyler Shandro, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and AHS President and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu joined Kenney on Tuesday afternoon for the live announcement.
The new measures prohibit indoor public gatherings and limit outdoor gatherings to 10 people. Other measures affect churches, schools and businesses, the latter of whom will fall into one of three categories: closed for in-person business, open with restrictions, and open by appointment only.
“We are taking strong, targeted new measures to protect both lives and livelihoods and bend the COVID-19 curve back down,” Premier Kenney said. “Today we have declared a state of public health emergency, taking firm action to protect Albertans’ health and our health-care system. Without these measures, we will soon have to cancel thousands of surgeries and other health services. Albertans must act together to protect the vulnerable.”
The measures will be in place for the next three weeks, and then reevaluated.
Below are the new restrictions announced Tuesday.
Covid-19 Measures
Not following mandatory restrictions could result in fines of $1,000 per ticketed offence and up to $100,000 through the courts.
Provincewide measures
Public and private gatherings
Effective immediately, mandatory restrictions on social gatherings are in effect provincewide. These measures will be in place until further notice and include:
No indoor social gatherings are permitted in any setting, including workplaces.
Outdoor social gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people.
Funeral services and wedding ceremonies must follow all public health guidance and are limited to a maximum of 10 in-person attendees. Receptions are not permitted.
Schools
In all schools, Grades 7-12 will move to at-home learning on Nov. 30, ending in-person classes early.
Students in early childhood services and Grades K-6 will remain learning in-person until Dec. 18.
All students will return to at-home learning after the winter break and resume in-person learning on Jan. 11, 2021.
These measures are mandatory.
Diploma exams are optional for the rest of the school year. Students and their families can choose whether to write the exam or receive an exemption for the April, June, and August 2021 exam sessions.
Measures for regions under enhanced status
Effective immediately, mandatory restrictions on places of worship, businesses and services are in effect in areas under enhanced status. These measures will be in place until further notice.
Places of worship
Places of worship are limited to a maximum of one-third normal attendance per service.
Physical distancing between households and masking are required.
Faith-based leaders are encouraged to move services online.
In-person faith group meetings can continue, but must maintain physical distancing and public health measures must be followed.
Businesses and services
Starting Nov. 27, business and service restrictions fall under three categories: closed for in-person business, open with restrictions, and open by appointment only. Impacts by category are available here: alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx.
These measures will remain in place for three weeks, but will be extended if needed.
Albertans are encouraged to limit in-person visits to retail locations, shop local and use curbside pickup, delivery and online services, where possible.
Specific measures for Calgary, Edmonton and surrounding communities
Mandatory mask requirements
Effective immediately, a new mandatory mask requirement for indoor workplaces is in place for Edmonton, Calgary and surrounding areas. This includes any location where employees are present, and applies to visitors, including delivery personnel, and employees or contractors.
This measure will be in place until further notice.
All existing guidance and legal orders remain in place in all areas. Alberta Health, AHS and local municipalities continue to closely monitor the spread across the province.
Full details can be found here.
As of Tuesday, Morinville has 11 new cases, six more recoveries for a total of 33 active cases. Sturgeon County has four new cases, six more recoveries for a total of 92 active cases.
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