EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he'll announce "a final decision" this Saturday on whether to proceed with the second phase of the province's pandemic reopening plan.
Kenney says on social media it will be "a prudent decision based on the latest data" and that "damaging restrictions should not last one day longer than necessary to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed."
Step 2 will remove any remaining requirements for schools, such as cohorts for kids in kindergarten to Grade 6, and will drop youth screening for entertainment and sports, as well as capacity limits on all large venues.
It will also remove indoor mask requirements, indoor and outdoor gathering limits, and mandatory work-from-home requirements.
Kenney ended the province's vaccine passport earlier this month as well as mask requirements for schools, and mask requirements in all settings for children under 12.
He said at that time that Alberta would enter Step 2 of the reopening plan March 1 if COVID-19 hospitalizations were trending downward, and on Monday he said the data continues to show a steep drop in the COVID-19 Omicron wave.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2022.
The Canadian Press
