By rdnewsNOW staff

With hospitalizations and variant cases rising...

Alberta not moving to Step 3 of relaunch

Mar 22, 2021 | 4:07 PM

Alberta will not move into the next stage of its reopening plan.

“There will be no easing of any restrictions at this time,” Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Monday.

“This is a safe move, it’s the smart move to make for our province right now. And it’s absolutely necessary to help us avoid a third wave that would take more lives and once again put more pressure on the hospital system.”

One of the government’s main criteria for moving to Step 3 of its Path Forward was for hospitalizations to be under 300 and trending downward.

Hospitalizations in Alberta have risen from 255 to 280 in the past week, while active cases have risen from 4,697 on March 14 to 6,176 as of Monday. Daily new cases have regularly been above 500 prior to Monday (456).

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Shandro said he knows the decision to not move forward is a disappointment for many but is prudent and essential.

He said with hospitalizations likely to again be more than 300 in the coming days, “it would be irresponsible and unfair to Albertans to ease measures now only to reinstate them a few days later.”

He added the Path Forward is about making good decisions based on the evidence.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alberta. (Alberta Health Services)

Projected COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alberta. (Alberta Health Services)

Last week, the r-value for cases in Alberta was 1.14. Shandro explains that anything above one means that cases are growing.

Variants of COVID-19 now account for around 16 per cent of all active cases, up from about 10 per cent a couple of weeks ago.

“This is not the direction we want to be heading in.”

Step 3 includes the potential easing of measures on adult team sports, casinos, youth sports and recreation, indoor social gatherings, indoor seated events such as movie theatres, museums, zoos, and places of worship.

The full list of COVID-19 restrictions currently in effect and what is in each step of the relaunch plan can be found here.