KENNEY MUST DELAY STEP 3 DUE TO RISING CASE NUMBERS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS

EDMONTON – Premier Jason Kenney must delay Step 3 of his reopening plan until new cases and hospitalizations are trending downward and more Albertans are vaccinated.

“Jason Kenney must put the safety of Albertans first and focus on containing the spread of these dangerous new variants,” said Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley. “There is hope on the horizon, and if the government truly believes that every Alberta adult will be offered their first shot by the end of June then it would be truly irresponsible to put families and businesses at increased risk over the coming weeks.”

The UCP Cabinet met with health officials Monday morning to discuss moving toward Step 3 of their roadmap to reopening, which is contingent on “300 hospitalizations and declining”. However, the number of Albertans hospitalized due to COVID-19 has risen every day for the past eight days.

In addition, cases of COVID-19 variants have been rising in the province, with Alberta currently identifying the most variant cases of any other province in the country according to Health Canada.

COVID has been spreading rapidly in the City of Lethbridge, and a serious outbreak forced the closure of Central Memorial High School in Calgary.

The Alberta NDP Caucus continues to call on the UCP government to publicly release all projections and modelling completed by Alberta Health Services associated with the COVID-19 variant.

“I urge Jason Kenney to exercise great caution and put the safety of Albertans ahead of appeasing his caucus rebellion,” Notley said. “He must delay Step 3 until he has reversed the trend of growing case numbers and growing hospitalizations and he must contain the spread of these dangerous new variants.”