Alberta Can't Lift Restrictions & 'Let ‘Er Rip' Because It Has The Highest Cases In Canada

Premier Janson Kenney addressed the public in a Facebook livestream on Wednesday, January 6.

The current Alberta COVID-19 restrictions were initially put in place until Monday, January 11 and many Albertans asked Kenney whether those restrictions would be lifted. 

Editor's Choice: Trump Finally Admitted His Presidency Is Over & Says The Change Will Be 'Orderly'

We will not be in a position in the short term to relax all of the restrictions that were put in place in November and December. Jason Kenney

The premier said that Alberta is currently leading the country in "per-capita cases, active cases, and I believe daily fatalities as well."

As such, he said that he will be looking into "gradual steps to relax restrictions" through a regional approach that balances restrictions with transmission risk in various communities. 

Though, he did not indicate when that gradual approach might begin. If we were to just "lift all the restrictions and let ‘er rip," Kenney said, "there’s no doubt in my mind that we would end up back in the kind of exponential growth we saw in late November, early December."

Kenney told viewers that the restrictions were in place for at least four weeks. "We didn’t say we would be lifting them in four weeks," he reminded. 

He mentioned more than once that an announcement would be coming on Thursday, January 7. 

At present, all gatherings are banned in Alberta and a multitude of non-essential businesses have been closed or placed under advanced health mandates.