The Canadian province of Alberta will increase restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 as a 3rd wave of the pandemic threatens to overwhelm the hospital system within weeks, Premier Jason Kenney stated on Tuesday.
Stricter measures include confining schools to online learning, ordering workplaces with COVID-19 outbreaks to shut for 10 days, closing salons, allowing restaurants to offer takeout service only, and reducing the number of individuals allowed at funerals and religious services.
Alberta, the center of Canada’s energy industry, has the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 cases in the nation and follows Ontario and Quebec in beefing up restrictions.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on Tuesday the federal government was providing whatever help the province wanted to get the situation under control and keep Albertans protected.
Alberta’s tougher measures come on the same day Canada’s Tourism Minister Melanie Joly stated the nation is working with international partners to develop a standardized vaccine certification for travel.
Canada currently has a higher infection rate than the USA as it rolls out vaccines during a 3rd wave. The nation has fully inoculated only 3% of its almost 38 million individuals, though more than 34% have received the first dose and millions of doses are arriving each week.
“Clearly as vaccination is being rolled out, we’ll position ourselves as a safe destination,” Joly stated in a telephone interview after attending a virtual meeting with her G20 counterparts earlier within the day.
Canada’s land border with the United States has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020, and those arriving by plane must be tested and quarantine themselves.
The third wave gripping the nation now has dimmed the hopes of airlines and the tourism sector for renewed travel this summertime.
