The provincial government is introducing new measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Premier Jason Kenney announced on Tuesday several mandatory regulations while declaring the province is once again under a state of a public health emergency.
Gathering Measures
Over the next three weeks, indoor social gatherings will be prohibited and outdoor gatherings will be limited to 10 individuals.
Weddings and funerals will only be allowed to have 10 people attend in-person. Places of worship must now limit services to one-third of capacity.
Those who don’t comply will be fined.
Business Measures
Businesses will be able to remain open, however, they must cap occupancy at 25 per cent starting on Friday.
Restaurants and bars can still allow in-person dining if they continue to follow all safety protocols.
Those who choose to go to a restaurant can only do so with individuals they live with. People who live alone can meet with two individuals but they must stay the same individuals and can’t change over the weeks.
Activities like darts and pool are prohibited.
Gyms and fitness facilities can also stay open but must limit capacity to 25 per cent.
Group activities, workouts, classes, and training remain restricted. Instructors can use their facilities to broadcast virtual fitness classes.
Movie theatres, libraries, casinos are also allowed to remain open but with restrictions.
Places like barbershops and salons can continue to accept customers, but they must allow individuals to book an appointment and can’t accept walk-ins.
Conference halls and concert centres must close, while all sports leagues will be suspended unless the province grants an exemption after approving a COVID-19 action plan.
School Update
Starting on November 30, students in grades 7-12 will continue their education online.
Those in grade 6 and below will continue to go to school in-person.
The winter break will start on December 18.
At this time, all students are slated to return to in-person learning on January 11.
Beforehand, all grades will continue online learning from January 4 to 8.
-An earlier version didn’t clarify where students would continue learning after the winter break. All grades are slated to return to in-person classes on January 11.
Masks in Edmonton and Calgary
The province is also making it mandatory to wear a mask while in public indoor spaces in Edmonton, Calgary, and surrounding areas.
COVID-19 Update
Fort McMurray is seeing 17 new cases in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced 1,115 new cases across the province.
This raises the provincial total to 49,536 with 13,349 currently active.
Locally, the added cases in the community were alongside six additional recoveries, putting the active total at 158.
The rural areas added three new cases and saw two more recoveries which puts the active total at 27.
In total, 539 individuals across the RMWB – 466 in Fort McMurray and 73 in the rural areas – have recovered.
They are among the 35,695 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents just over 72 per cent of reported cases.
There were also 16 new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past day – raising the total to 492.
To date, two individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.
