Alberta delays lifting lockdowns now that COVID variants have arrived on the scene While Alberta has been a hotbed of anti-lockdown sentiment for some time, a handful of businesses around the province have begun flouting restrictions in recent weeks
Author of the article: Tyler Dawson
Publishing date: Jan 26, 2021 • January 26, 2021 • 4 minute read • Anna Posteraro gets her hair styled by Alysha Goertzen at Alyshageehair on Tuesday January 19, 2021. The government of Alberta allowed hair salons to re-open for business in the province this week after a lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Larry Wong/Postmedia
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EDMONTON The presence in Alberta of roughly two-dozen cases of COVID-19 variants first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa will delay any further relaxation of the province’s lockdown rules while officials monitor the threat the variants pose to the health-care system.
CALGARY Public health restrictions will be front and centre for Alberta’s UCP government Monday as the provincial cabinet discusses when to ease them. Business owners across the province are demanding answers and anxiously awaiting a definitive timeline on when they can reopen their doors. The Alberta Hospitality Association (AHA) has encouraged its members to message local MLAs in an effort to learn more details. Premier Jason Kenney has promised a minimum of one week s notice so owners can prepare to open back up, but there has been no word as of Monday afternoon. Instead, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said last week that restrictions would “not ease anytime soon.”
CALGARY Sandeep Koul is about to fly to India to see his parents. However, he’s forbidden from getting off the plane there without proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours. That’s why he’s parked outside the CardiIA laboratory in Northeast Calgary, paying $120 for a rapid test, with results in 24 hours, “If you book an appointment with AHS, you’re not guaranteed to get it in that time frame,” he says “If I don’t get them, I’d have to reschedule all my travel plans. It makes no sense to me.” CardiAI is one of 38 facilities approved to conduct COVID-19 testing across Alberta.
With personal grooming services now open in Alberta, other industries are pushing the provincial government to reopen next — and they also want the data to back up claims from officials about the source of COVID-19 transmission.