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As cabinet meets to consider next relaun

WATCH: Hinshaw to give COVID-19 update

Mar 22, 2021 | 3:22 PM

Coming up at 3:30 p.m.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw will provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Alberta.

Though Hinshaw is the only official listed on the media advisory for today’s update, Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Tyler Shandro could be on hand to announce potential changes to public health restrictions.

Hinshaw’s update comes as the provincial cabinet met on Monday to consider whether to advance to the next phase of Alberta’s relaunch.

Alberta’s Opposition NDP is urging Premier Jason Kenney to heed rising COVID-19 case numbers and to delay further easing of health restrictions.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley says with variants, daily case counts and hospitalization levels going up, now is not the time to allow for increased public gatherings.

Kenney’s government is debating whether to ease the rules given, that hospitalization are under the threshold of 300.

But Alberta has almost 6,000 active infections — the highest per-capita case rate in Canada.

The next stage of reopening would see entertainment venues such as movie theatres and casinos reopen.

Currently, retailers, restaurants, youth sports and in-person worship services are open with capacity restrictions.

Indoor gatherings remain banned, and outdoor get-togethers are capped at 10 people.

(With file from The Canadian Press)