NDP calls on Alberta government to release internal COVID-19 modelling

Alberta’s Opposition NDP is calling on Premier Jason Kenney to release internal modelling that the government says supported its decision to eliminate COVID-19 public heath measures.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, has said the modelling looked at transmission and severe outcomes related to the highly-contagious Delta variant.

Hinshaw said the modelling suggests cases will rise for a month but will have limited impact on the province’s acute care system.

1:40 Pandemic to endemic: Alberta needs to prepare for other diseases as resources shifted away from COVID-19: Hinshaw

NDP deputy leader Sarah Hoffman says the government needs to release the data Friday, so Albertans can make decisions on their health and gauge the risks — especially as cases spike.

Hoffman says the United Conservatives are taking undue risk with people’s lives by lifting isolation, testing and contact tracing measures and is calling on them to reinstate the controls.

2:00 Albertans protest ending mandatory COVID-19 isolation, masking and testing changes

Albertans who are close contacts of COVID-19 cases are no longer mandated to isolate and, come Aug. 16, neither will people who test positive for the virus.

2:03 COVID-19 modelling raises fourth wave fears