by: ubaka ogbogu
last week, dr. deena hinshaw, alberta’s chief medical officer of health announced that by mid-august, alberta will remove public health measures, including contact tracing, masking in public transit, isolation for those who test positive, and testing for those who are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. this announcement comes at a time when the province is riding a fourth wave of the pandemic, with cases and hospitalizations rising and a significant proportion of the population partially vaccinated or unvaccinated, including children under 12.
this latest move is nothing like the earlier easing of restrictions such as limits on gatherings, business closures, and physical distancing. the latter were controversial largely because they affected economic and personal well-being. now that the more contentious restrictions are gone and the province is “open for summer” and beyond, it is unclear why the government chose to abandon basic public health measures like contact tracing and isolation, which do no more than serve to detect and stop the spread of covid-19 and which have limited impact on the economy and individual liberties.
alberta is the only jurisdiction in north america, and perhaps even globally, that has eliminated all of these “boots-on-the-ground” public health measures. the approach makes zero sense for a virus that has killed or affected millions and which has the potential to mutate into deadlier, more contagious variants. worse, it is even more nonsensical from a public health surveillance perspective. by not tracking and mitigating spread, the government has given a deadly virus free rein to live undetected and undisturbed among us. bluntly, it is government-approved russian roulette.