COVID-19 is essentially over in Alberta.
At least according to the latest from the provincial government. On March 1, the province removed most public health restrictions, including the mask mandate in all but high-risk areas such as public transit, continuing care places and Alberta Health Services-run buildings.
The mandatory work-from-home order has been lifted and the vaccine passport can now only be seen in local museums, while people are free to cram into Oilers’ and Flames’ games at full capacity just in time for the final third of the regular season.
But while the provincial government is full steam ahead in putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror, not all people are the same.
Though fewer people are now seen wearing masks, for the coming weeks, months and possibly years, they will continue to be a common sight.
For people who are immunocompromised – and largely forgotten about in recent public health decisions – it could always be a fact of life.
Throughout the pandemic, particularly in the past few months, there has been significant conflict between those who wish to have public health restrictions removed and those who want them kept a little longer to ensure hospitalizations further decline.
After opening too soon for the best summer ever and seeing hospitals largely overwhelmed because of the government's poor decision-making, a better safe than sorry approach is held by many people.
Despite the mask mandate having been around for months, everyone has likely seen people wandering through stores without one. While staff in stores are reasonably hesitant at times to insist on mask wearing to avoid conflict, it should ultimately rely on people following public health advice.
It has led to countless disputes, and undoubtedly, everyone has at least some experience having either been a part or witnessing such instances.
But now that the mask mandate has been removed, there will likely be continued hesitancy to be around one another in certain settings.
Some businesses and organizations have concluded it’s too soon for the mask lifting and are still requesting people to wear it for the safety of both staff and patrons. The decision will likely lead to further quarrel – verbal or physical – in future settings.
A few municipalities had intended to maintain mask bylaws – daring to make a decision to offer additional protection for residents' health – but on Tuesday (March 1), the province announced it would introduce legislation to limit the ability to do so. The intent all but puts municipalities in their place when having different policies from the province on public health.
The removal of further restrictions came as a surprise to no one. As the provincial government pushes forward in its “Path Back to Normal” plan, seeing an additional decline in hospitalizations clearly didn’t make the cut.
With Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership review upcoming in April and several MLA’s – Banff-Kananaskis’ Miranda Rosin among them – highly critical of public health restrictions, it was no time like the present to begin scrapping public health recommendations.
As of Monday (Feb. 28), there are 1,295 COVID-related hospitalizations in Alberta and 88 people in intensive care. The province is on the precipice of 4,000 COVID-related deaths and there are 10,112 confirmed cases, but going by case counts long since went out the window after placing priority on testing was abandoned.
Though wastewater testing has shown the decline in COVID-19 cases, scientists involved with that testing have stated it isn’t comparable to PCR testing.
After essentially caving to the demands of the freedom convoy that parked itself at the border crossing at Coutts and garnered significant attention across the country, especially in Ottawa, the will to lead has taken a backseat at the provincial level.
There is clearly a time when the pandemic will end and people will learn to live with it. Another two or three weeks would not have made a significant impact to ensure the best decision was made for the health of Alberta residents.
It’s worth everyone remembering that while the mandate is gone, it doesn’t mean COVID-19 is over for everyone.
