Hand sanitizer, masks, and disinfectant solutions are now available for free to non-health-care organizations such as daycares, day homes, NGOs, private home care and food-service providers, the Alberta government said Monday.
The Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) is “distributing surplus personal protective equipment (PPE) to an expanded group of non-health-care organizations,” says a news release.
“We have extra stores of PPE and we do not want to see them wasted, so we are sharing them with Alberta businesses and non-profit groups to support their operations, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said.
“This is one more thing we can do to help Albertans protect themselves and their families as we continue to respond to COVID-19.”
The following non-health-care organizations qualify to receive PPE from the AEMA at no cost:
- daycares and day homes
- food service providers, meat-packing service providers, food banks, trucking companies, non-governmental organizations, oil and gas services
- general municipal groups including Metis Settlements and First Nations
- private home care providers that are not publicly funded directly or through contracts
- privately owned health service providers, physiotherapy clinics, primary care physicians, optometry clinics and diagnostic imaging clinics will also receive PPE from the AEMA at no cost.
A request can be made for the from the AEMA through an online form here.
Priority organizations, such as continuing care facilities, pharmacists, police agencies, fire departments and Emergency Medical Services, will continue receiving PPE from the AEMA.
AEMA is also maintaining a 60-day supply of PPE “for future public health emergencies.” The stockpile includes commercial and medical disinfectant solution and wipes, nitrile gloves, disposable gowns, hand sanitizer and disposable masks.
Alberta will also trade surplus PPE with other provinces and territories, following previously established processes.
Vaccines for kids 5-11
On Friday, Health Canada approved Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for use on kids between the ages of five and 11. Alberta Health Services is urging parents to get their kids registered to receive the vaccine as soon as possible.
Alberta Health will outline its plans for COVID-19 immunization in kids on Tuesday afternoon.
“I know many families are looking forward to hearing more about plans to open up vaccinations for children ages 5-11,” Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw shared on Twitter Monday. “We are finalizing details and will share information on Alberta’s roll-out at tomorrow’s media availability.”
Daily COVID-19 cases
On Monday, Alberta Health announced 269 new cases of COVID-19 were identified on Friday (out of 9,449 tests), 386 on Saturday (out of 7,615 tests) and 269 on Sunday (out of 4,824 tests).
As of Monday, there were 5,311 active cases across the province, up slightly from Friday’s total of 5,293.
On Monday, there were 463 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 98 of whom were in ICU. To compare, on Friday, those numbers were 496 and 93, respectively.
Six additional COVID-related deaths were reported over the weekend, bringing the provincial COVID-19 death toll to 3,217 since the pandemic began.
As of Monday’s update, 88.4 per cent of eligible Albertans over the age of 12 had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of the same group, 83.2 per cent were fully vaccinated.