Schools across the province are being closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Sunday the new measure to stop the spread of the virus.
Despite students not being allowed in the buildings, post-secondary schools will remain open with school authorities expected to continue their day-to-day operations.
In K-12, students will receive a final mark and will be able to progress to their next grade. Every student eligible to graduate this year will graduate.
The provincial government is also working with post-secondary schools to ensure this measure doesn’t impact students from being eligible to attend in the coming school year.
Meanwhile, all licensed child care, out-of-school care programs and preschool programs in Alberta are also being closed.
Approved day homes are exempt as they oversee fewer than seven children at a time. They are, however, asked to use enhanced sanitation practices.
Mass Gatherings
Places of worship will no longer be exempt from the province’s restriction on large gatherings.
Events with 250 and more or has international participation are asked to be cancelled.
Any event that has more than 50 attendees and expects to have international participants, or involves critical infrastructure staff, seniors, or other high-risk populations, are also be asked to be cancelled.
Events that do not meet this criteria can continue, however, risk mitigation measures must be in place, such as enforcing distancing of one to two metres between attendees and using sanitizer stations.
Continuing Care Facilities
The province is only allowing essential visits to any continuing and long-term facilities.
Individuals over 60 years of age and those with pre-existing health conditions are most at risk of severe symptoms from COVID-19.
Families and friends are being asked to think of other ways to support their loved ones besides visiting.
New Cases
There are 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Three are in the Edmonton zone and the other 14 are in the Calgary zone.
This brings the total number of cases to 56, none of which are in Wood Buffalo.
Two of the cases appear to have been acquired through community transmission from an unknown source and seven cases are linked to a single gathering.
