Alberta Premier Jason Kenney updates media on measures taken to help with COVID-19 in Edmonton on Friday, March 20, 2020.Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is expected to announce widespread business closures Tuesday after earlier attempts to control the province’s surging COVID-19 infections with less-strict measures failed.
Governments sources told The Globe and Mail that the province will order the closure of restaurants, bars, casinos and personal-service businesses such as hair salons. Delivery and takeout will still be allowed. Retailers and malls will also remain open but will see their capacity lowered below the current limit of 25 per cent. The Globe and Mail agreed not to identify the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly before the announcement.
Mr. Kenney’s government has repeatedly rejected calls for a “circuit breaker” lockdown to bring infections under control. He has argued that widespread business closures would be more harmful to the province than the pandemic itself and argued that lockdowns are a “massive” infringement on the Charter rights.
Mr. Kenney initially gave his government until Dec. 15 to consider whether the recent changes were working, but the province’s infection rates have continued climbing.