On Tuesday night, Albertans will get their first look at provincial predictions for how long the COVID-19 crisis and corresponding restrictions will last.
On Monday afternoon, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he will be giving a televised speech to Albertans Tuesday night to talk about the measures the province is taking to protect residents and what they can expect in the coming months.
“I think a question a lot of Albertans want to know the answer to is, ‘When is this over?’ We will not be able to answer that with certainty but we can give people a sense of when we can begin to relax some of the public health measures and social distancing protocols and hopefully get back to some kind of a normal and begin to restart the economy.”
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Kenney said the update will also include information on the “enormous” economic challenges the province is facing due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, the shutdown of the economy and “the worst energy prices in our lifetime.”
The premier said he expects his speech to also be a sign of hope and a way forward for the province.
Tuesday's summary will be followed on Wednesday with the release of the full case modelling to the media and public
Kenney said there will an update on how prepared the province is to handle the pandemic and what medical supplies are in place.
The premier said the models will present some “disturbing” worst-case scenarios, but he reminded Albertans that because of the province's response and overall good compliance with the public health orders by residents, the province is in a much better position than similar jurisdictions around the world.
Kenney noted the models will not be a perfect prediction of what will come but rather their best effort to paint a picture that is important for planning purposes.
