the province is now mired in its third major round of restrictions since the pandemic began last march, after the surge forced the reintroduction of strict, sweeping public health measures last week, closing all schools provincewide and temporarily shuttering many non-essential businesses.
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on jan. 29, when premier jason kenney announced plans to begin lifting some measures , 37 cases of variants had been found in alberta. just over two months later, the b.1.1.7 strain, first found in the united kingdom, would become dominant in the province , driving a wave of infections that grew faster and more fiercely than the ones that preceded it.
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bhardwaj said that unlike ontario, where the third wave surge overwhelmed hospitals, alberta’s hospital utilization somewhat recovered between the second and third waves, helping to prevent a disastrous scenario. nonetheless, alberta health services released a document late last month dictating how doctors should prioritize care for patients if demand on the health-care system exceeds resources.
alberta’s mortality rate also dropped significantly in the third wave, with early immunizations of seniors and those living in continuing-care facilities protecting the province’s most vulnerable from dying from covid-19.
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“(alberta’s approach) almost guarantees worsening inequities and prolonging the pandemic,” said fabreau, who, alongside dr. annalee coakley, helped spearhead vaccine clinics at meat-processing plants such as cargill in high river . the pair are now among doctors looking to expand pop-up sites into hot spots, including calgary’s northeast.
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the gracelife church, outside of edmonton, held weekly services above capacity restrictions and became a flashpoint for opponents of the province’s public health measures. ahs eventually shuttered the church in early april, but similar enforcement against other scofflaws, such as the calgary street church , wouldn’t come until a month later.
the situation became even more politically volatile for kenney when a quarter of his caucus signed a letter opposing restrictions , said mount royal university political scientist duane bratt.
“you had this outright, high-level defiance. and probably the last straw, at least for kenney, was the bowden rodeo,” said bratt, referencing an illegal central alberta rodeo at the beginning of may where hundreds congregated without masks or physical distancing.
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