Alberta's 'open for summer' plan set trajectory of COVID's fourth wave, Hinshaw now says
CBC
Alberta's chief medical health officer now says the province's controversial lifting of all COVID-19 public-health restrictions in early July set the trajectory for the explosive fourth wave that has pushed its health-care system to the breaking point.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw also said in a Zoom meeting with Primary Care Network physicians on Monday night that she "deeply" regrets her part in contributing to a narrative that "COVID's over."
In May, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney promised the "best summer ever" for Albertans as he announced the government's three-part plan to be the first and most open province in Canada by July 1.
All restrictions were lifted, including a ban on indoor social gatherings and the general indoor provincial mask mandate, though the province retained isolation requirements for confirmed cases of COVID-19 and some protective measures in continuing care settings.
That set the course for Alberta's massive fourth wave, Hinshaw acknowledged in the meeting with physicians Monday night.
"I think that trajectory was set when we removed all the public health restrictions at the beginning of July," Hinshaw said.
"If you look at the experiences of all of the different provinces across the country, those that have kept in some base level restrictions to manage the interactions and close contacts are the ones that are not seeing the significant impact. And those of us that removed them are the ones that saw the significant very steep rise in some of these acute care impacts."