The government of Alberta announced Friday it would be reducing the required isolation period for those who have COVID-19 but have received two doses of vaccine from 10 days to five days, as long as their symptoms have resolved.
For the next five days, individuals who were sick must wear a high-quality mask when outside their home around others.
If symptoms continue past five days, people must isolate until they subside.
Unvaccinated Albertans must continue to isolate for 10 days.
The change to the isolation period comes into effect Jan. 3.
Health Minister Jason Copping said this adjustment was made “to limit disruption on Alberta’s workforce.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw explained the decision was based on evidence that those who are fully immunized shed virus for a shorter period of time and that “shorter isolation periods are easier to comply with.” Hinshaw explained the more people who comply with the isolation requirements, the better it is for overall public health.
“Anyone who has symptoms must isolate until those symptoms resolve — vaccinated or not, confirmed COVID or not,” Hinshaw said.
Copping said additional flexibility on isolation period for COVID positive workers could be given — in consultation with the chief medical officer of health — for certain essential services.
He said discretionary exceptions could be made for workers whose absence causes “significant public health impact.” In those instances, additional health measures would be put into place, Copping said.
Government officials said Alberta’s changes are in line with Ontario and other provinces, and the latest guidelines from the CDC in the U.S.
B.C. announced the same change to self-isolation time on Friday.
No additional restrictions were announced on Friday and no changes were made to the current indoor gathering rules or Restrictions Exemption Program.
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“Tonight and over the weekend, many people are hoping to gather with friends and family,” Hinshaw said, adding Albertans should expect that there’s at least one COVID-positive person at any gathering they attend.
“COVID doesn’t care that we miss getting together with family and friends,” she said, urging people to limit or postpone social events and in-person contacts.
“Keep your social interactions small,” Hinshaw said. “Please continue to do your part as you celebrate New Year’s Eve tonight.”
Copping said the government is trying to get more rapid COVID-19 tests.
He said the province has been asking the federal government for 10 million kits per month and that Alberta has independently procured one million rapid test kits, a portion of which arrived this week.
“We’re focused on getting additional tests,” Copping said. “We have more coming. We’re getting them out as quickly as we can.”
Alberta recorded a record-setting 4,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
On Thursday, Alberta’s positivity rate was approximately 30 per cent.
There were 371 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, including 48 being treated in ICU.
Hinshaw said there were about 21,000 active COVID-19 cases Thursday in Alberta “that we know about.”
“The total number of new and active cases in the province is greater than reported.”
However, she said daily case numbers have always only provided a snapshot, trends and geographic information.
Daily case numbers have never been an exact count, she said, as they don’t include Albertans who don’t get tested — either because they don’t want to, can’t access testing or don’t have symptoms.
Hinshaw said the provincial PCR lab testing caught about one in four cases in the first wave and about one in six cases in the second wave. That rate is dropping even more recently, due to more at-home rapid testing.
Severe outcomes from COVID-19 are still monitored through hospital admissions and ICU rates, Hinshaw said.
The main purpose of testing is to identify those who need access to treatment or who live or work in areas of high risk of severe outcomes, she said.
“We do not need to document the majority of cases in order to have an effective surveillance system.”
Hinshaw explained broad testing was more applicable earlier in the pandemic when Alberta was trying to control spread and minimize impact.
Now, she said, there’s access to vaccines, and the Omicron variant is so transmissible and spreads so rapidly that “individual case identification and case management” isn’t effective.
In an evening news conference Thursday, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced the return to school for kindergarten to Grade 12 would be pushed back to Jan. 10 to give schools and school boards more time to assess how the rapid spread of Omicron would impact their operations.
She said the province would also provide millions of rapid tests and medical-grade masks to school staff and students starting Jan. 10.
On Thursday, Quebec brought back its controversial overnight curfew beginning Friday at 10 p.m., which is New Year’s Eve, and continuing to 5 a.m. the next day.
Also beginning on Friday, private gatherings in Quebec homes will be prohibited. Only people who live alone or need caregivers will be allowed to join another family bubble.
On Wednesday, the B.C. government delayed the start of the school year for most students. Children with special needs and children of health care workers will return on Jan. 3 or 4 as planned, but everyone else will go back on Jan. 10 — one week later than initially scheduled.
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