Alberta Officials Are Planning For A Potential 'Worst-Case' Scenario As COVID-19 Cases Soar
"It's prudent to plan."
Premier Jason Kenney has just announced that the province will be taking measures to plan for a "worst-case" scenario as Alberta's COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
During a COVID-19 update on Tuesday, September 21, the premier said that he'd been in touch with different agencies to plan what the response would be in dire circumstances.
Update on COVID-19 – September 21 at 5 pmwww.youtube.com
"We initiated planning with federal agencies for potential additional support, again, to plan responsibly for a worst-case scenario," Kenney said during the press conference. "Our planning includes potential aeromedical evacuation capability from the Canadian Armed Forces, including getting more personnel skilled in patient management and transfers that can help support relocating patients to hospitals outside of the province if needed."
"Let me be clear, we do not currently need the support and we do not have an imminent need of it, but it's prudent to plan for things in case we reach a worst-case scenario," he went on to say.
The news comes on the heels of the premier's cabinet shuffle earlier on Tuesday. Kenny confirmed that Minister of Health Tyler Shandro had resigned from his position and would be swapping jobs with the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Jason Copping.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during the Tuesday press conference that there have been 29 new deaths reported to Alberta Health in the past 24 hours and about 1,500 new COVID-19 cases.
Alberta recently declared a public health emergency and implemented a series of new health rules to try and stop the swell in cases.