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No new restrictions coming for bars and restaurants; new cases recorded at Amazon plant

The province reported 98 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday after testing 10,500 more people for the deadly disease

Unlike other provinces, Alberta’s public health officials and political leaders say they don’t feel the need to implement new restrictions in places such as bars and restaurants to curb the spread of COVID-19, despite a recent uptick in daily case numbers.

The province reported 98 new cases of the novel coronavirus Wednesday after testing 10,500 people for the deadly disease. The pandemic has claimed 248 lives in Alberta, following an additional death reported Wednesday.

Of the province’s 1,585 active COVID-19 cases, 655 were in Alberta Health Services’ Calgary zone as of Wednesday — the most of any region within the province.

A total of 45 people infected by the virus across Alberta remained hospitalized, including seven patients in intensive care.

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“The continued rise in active cases in Alberta is something that we all need to be concerned about and something that is within our power to stop,” said chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

“We all have the ability to take small actions every day that will benefit our schools and our communities.”

But Hinshaw said the province doesn’t plan to institute new measures at bars and restaurants.

On Tuesday, B.C.’s top doctor, Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced new restrictions on establishments that serve alcohol in response to a recent spike in cases.

Henry ordered all nightclubs and banquet halls closed, no late-night booze sales and no loud party noise. She said the new orders were needed because of cases spilling over from large indoor parties, nightclubs and banquet halls to at-risk groups such as those in long-term care.

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“We want to remove late-night temptation,” Henry said.

B.C., with a population of 5.1 million, had 1,386 active COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, along with 33 people in hospital.

Despite having more active cases and hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and a smaller population, Alberta doesn’t appear poised to follow B.C.’s lead.

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, left, and Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.Photo by Don Craig/Government of B.C.; Jason Franson/The Canadian Press
Asked whether Alberta should consider implementing new health and safety restrictions in bars and restaurants, Premier Jason Kenney said he believed the “right set of public health measures” were already in place.

“We’ve done very well. We should be concerned about the recent increase in the total number of active cases but, ultimately, Alberta’s belief is we’re not going to micromanage our way out of this,” Kenney said.

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“We’re only going to get through this if people exercise personal responsibility.”

Hinshaw added that public health officials have monitored the rise in active cases in Alberta to determine whether “there are particular types of businesses” in need of additional restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

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But she said COVID-19 transmission is mostly occurring “outside of that formal business environment.”

“We have not found one particular type of business or location where we think that creating those additional restrictions would reduce our daily case numbers,” said Hinshaw.

“Rather, it seems the majority of our new cases are coming from close contact, potentially household transmission, social gatherings, or other type events that aren’t necessarily easily controlled by formal public health restrictions and measures.”

Hinshaw noted there have been recent outbreaks at religious gatherings and that she would be meeting with faith leaders “to talk about the importance of the guidance that we have put out.”

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Kenney said he was “proud to say” that Alberta has instituted the “least restrictive public health measures in North America,” with the exception of South Dakota.

“We want to do everything we possibly can to avoid jerking around people, indiscriminately shutting down their businesses, their jobs and their livelihoods,” the premier said.

“We have to be focused on the imperative not just of saving lives, but also saving livelihoods.”

New outbreak at Amazon facility

Multiple new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded at a Calgary-area Amazon plant, after the company dealt with an earlier outbreak at the same facility in the spring.

Amazon confirmed Wednesday there were cases of the virus among people who had last been at its fulfillment centre in Balzac, north of Calgary, on Sept. 1.

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Employees were informed of the cases through a text message on Tuesday.

“We recently learned of additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 who work at (the facility)” the message stated, adding the date when those employees were last on site.

“We continue to take measures to keep you safe: implementing social distancing, requiring all to wear a face covering, conducting temperature checks, and doing more frequent cleanings.”

The company said it would not provide specifics surrounding the total number of cases.

AHS confirmed there were six cases linked to the latest outbreak. Of those, three were active and another three had recovered.

The Amazon distribution centre in Balzac on Monday, April 13, 2020.Photo by Darren Makowichuk /Postmedia
There were 20 cases linked to a previous outbreak at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in May. Each of those people recovered.
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“We are supporting the individuals who are recovering,” said Amazon spokeswoman Maria Boschetti.

“We’ve invested over $800 million in the first half of this year implementing 150 significant process changes on COVID-19 safety measures by purchasing items like masks, hand sanitizer, thermal cameras, thermometers, sanitizing wipes, gloves, additional handwashing stations, and adding disinfectant spraying in buildings, procuring COVID testing supplies, and additional janitorial teams.”

When cases are recorded, Amazon immediately initiates contact tracing “to determine if anyone was exposed to that individual, and we inform those employees right away and ask them to quarantine for 14 days with pay,” it stated.

“Based on our data, a fraction of a person on average is asked to quarantine per confirmed case.”

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