With new guidelines for isolation after international travel coming from the federal government in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, Alberta’s pilot project at the Calgary airport is about to be suspended.
In the coming weeks, all travellers coming into Canada will be required to have a COVID-19 test at the border and to quarantine at a federally designated hotel.
“This means all air travellers arriving to Alberta from outside of Canada will need to comply with the mandatory federal testing requirement and 14-day quarantine period at that time,” Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Thursday.
In November, Alberta launched a pilot project that allowed people to opt in to a COVID-19 test. Doing so could shorten their quarantine time if they tested negative and followed other rules above and beyond the typical public health advice.
Under the pilot project, Alberta tested more than 49,000 returning travellers as soon as they arrived.
“The positive cases identified from this testing included many who were not showing any symptoms,” Hinshaw said.
All positive cases from the pilot project were also tested for variants.
The pilot project at the Coutts land border crossing will continue until the federal government decides to put further restrictions in place.
Currently those coming into Canada through a land crossing have to show a negative PCR COVID-19 test that was obtained in the United States within the previous 72 hours.
The two pilot projects have set Alberta up well for the incoming federal rules, Hinshaw said.
Daily COVID-19 numbers
On Thursday, Alberta Health confirmed an additional 352 new cases of COVID-19 from 9,968 tests. That puts the province’s positivity rate at about 3.5 per cent, Hinshaw said.
Alberta Health said 16 additional deaths were reported to the ministry in the last 24 hours.
Of those 16 deaths, 11 were linked to outbreaks at continuing care facilities.
In the Edmonton zone, there were two fatalities linked to the outbreak at Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre: two women in their 90s — both with comorbidities. There were three deaths connected to the outbreak at Rivercrest Care Centre: two women in their 90s and a man in his 70s — all three included comorbidities. A man in his 90s linked to the outbreak at Hardisty Care Centre and a woman in her 90s linked to the outbreak at Devonshire Care Centre — both with comorbidities — also passed away.
In the Calgary zone, a woman in her 80s linked to the outbreak at United Active Living Garrison Green died, as did a man in his 90s linked to the outbreak at Intercare Southwood. Both cases included comorbidities.
In the South zone, there were two deaths linked to the outbreak at The View at Lethbridge: a woman in her 80s and a man in his 80s. Both included comorbidities.
In the Calgary zone, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 80s died. Both had comorbidities.
n the North zone, a man in his 60s with no known comorbidities passed away, along with two men in their 70s whose cases included comorbidities.
There were active alerts or outbreaks at 311 schools across the province, with a combined total of 897 new COVID-19 cases since early January.
Of those, about 155 are believed to have been a result of in-school transmission.
As of Thursday, Hinshaw reported there were 397 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 71 of those in the ICU.
“Our numbers continue to decline, but there are still as many people in the hospital today as there were on Nov. 23,” she said. “This is a reminder that we must keep this downward trend occurring.”
It’s a warning that is especially important before this long weekend, Hinshaw said.
“Tomorrow is the start of the Lunar New Year, Sunday is Valentine’s Day and, of course, Monday is Family Day.”
In a typical year, Hinshaw said, Albertans would be encouraged to gather and cherish this time together with close family and friends.
“However this is anything but a typical time,” she said.
“Just like other recent holidays, we need to celebrate this long weekend differently.
“This year I’m asking Albertans to celebrate by staying close to home and connecting with their friends, family and community in other ways.”
If people are planning on meeting those outside their household, Hinshaw reminded them to stay outside in groups of 10 or smaller and to stay two metres apart at all times.