Alberta can soon get ready for its best February and March ever.
The Feb. 8 announcement from Premier Jason Kenney all but closed the door on the province’s handling – or bungling – of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vaccine passport is gone, masks in school and mandatory masks are soon to be a thing of the past and the work-from-home order is about to be a tale for the grandkids.
Though he called it “careful and prudent”, the loosening of restrictions is about to go into overdrive.
And while the province has backtracked on removing and reintroducing restrictions in the past, the protests in Ottawa and Coutts as well as the vocal hardliners in the UCP show they aren’t coming back.
Kenney rightfully noted how the restrictions in Alberta – and throughout the world, for that matter – have been disruptive and polarizing.
It’s not to say a loosening shouldn’t happen. The general decline in cases – either through testing or wastewater monitoring – will occur.
Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer for Canada, noted earlier in the month a sustainable way of living with COVID-19 should be examined. A look at public health policies should also be re-examined, but leading epidemiologists in the country have warned against scrapping or easing policies just yet.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has stated the new Omicron infections peaked at the end of January, but the healthcare system remains under stress.
As each wave has shown, a lag time has been shown to take place from an infection peak to hospitalizations and people in intensive care.
For healthcare workers burned out and exhausted from the past two years, it’s a signal you don’t matter to the province.
Instead of waiting a few extra weeks or a month or two to help ease the burden on the health system and see a real progressive decline in cases, logic was tossed out the window.
For people who are immunocompromised, it’s a sign your lives aren’t as important as others.
While many people are tired of having to show proof of vaccination when entering a restaurant or having to wear a mask inside, the burden is little compared to a person with cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease faced with the risk of getting COVID.
As has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic, little scientific data to support the decision to ease restrictions was presented.
The latest health statistics show hospitalizations in Alberta from COVID-19 in the range of 1,500 to 1,700. The COVID-19 patients in intensive care are still regularly more than 115, while 13 new COVID-related deaths were announced the same day as Kenney’s announcement bringing the known total in Alberta close to 3,700.
There’s no doubt Kenney looked to the east and saw Quebec and Saskatchewan – other shining examples of pandemic leadership – have announced the end to their vaccine passport program and restrictions.
The sudden ouster of former federal Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole to the more right wing elements of the party also likely pushed provincial leadership in the direction it did, especially with Kenney’s own leadership review upcoming on April 9 in Red Deer.
Leaders are expected to lead, make unpopular decisions and do what’s right for citizens and not segments of their own party.
The decision has little to do with public health or the protection of residents, but a self-aggrandizing public relations move at the expense of human lives.
