Alberta Plans To Lift 'Almost All' COVID-19 Restrictions Next Week & Here's What That Means

Alberta is planning to lift "almost all" COVID-19 restrictions as early as next week.

In a series of tweets, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said that "encouraging data continues to show a steep drop in the COVID-19 Omicron wave." He added that pressure on Alberta's hospitals is declining.

Kenney said a final decision would be announced by the government on Saturday, February 26, about moving to step two of their plan to "lift almost all restrictions on March 1" in the province.

"Damaging restrictions should not last one day longer than necessary to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. We must learn to live with COVID, and get our lives back to normal," Kenney tweeted.

Alberta started its reopening plan on February 9. In a live address to the province the day before, Kenney said that Alberta's proof-of-vaccination system would end at midnight.

In the same press conference, he also said that rules requiring students to wear masks in schools would end on Monday, February 14.

If the government continues with its plan to lift more restrictions starting March 1, Alberta will look very different from next week.

Step two of removing COVID-19 restrictions would see capacity limits on all large venues lifted while gathering limits for indoor and outdoor socializing would also be dropped.

Mandatory work-from-home requirements for businesses will end and indoor masking will no longer be required in the province.

A date for moving to step three of the plan has not yet been finalized, but it would see COVID-specific continuing care measures removed along with mandatory isolation requirements. Moving to this next step is dependent on "hospitalization rates continuing to trend downward."