Doctor calls for increased COVID-19 measures in Alberta to avoid past mistakes
Premier Jason Kenney says he is supporting the federal government’s decision to ban all foreign nationals from entering Canada from several southern African countries but a prominent emergency room doctor says Alberta should take additional steps.
In a tweet, the premier says he agrees with the new restrictions and that Canada must not repeat the "mistake of its open border policy at the start of the pandemic."
Dr. Joe Vipond, a Calgary emergency room doctor, says that more needs to be done at a provincial level as the variant has already spread outside of South Africa. He's encouraging the provincial government to put its own travel restrictions in place.
"Certainly what was done in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and P.E.I. in the past, works," said Vipond.
During previous waves of the pandemic, travellers to Atlantic Canada were required to quarantine for two weeks and take rapid tests.
Vipond adds that he doesn't believe Alberta's government "has the stomach" to enforce interprovincial travel restrictions, but that they would help prevent the new variant from spreading into the province.
The announcement of the new variant comes as the province's COVID-19 case counts have started to rise.
Vipond says the restrictions that have been in place since mid-September have done a good job at preventing spread, but the return of colder weather has more people gathering indoors and case numbers are increasing week-over-week.
"That’s worrisome, because it means the policies that we have in place are not currently working," explained Vipond. "It’s not that the government is doing anything wrong, it’s just that we aren’t doing enough for the situation we’re in now."
Vipond says to get our current situation under control, more measures should be brought into place. He suggests making masks mandatory in schools at all times, and making rapid testing readily available to the general public.
"All those mitigation measures that work for old things, including ventilation and masks, have worked in the past and should work for the new variant. Until we know more about Omicron, we should continue to try and vaccinate as many people as possible, and increase public health measures to try and reduce virus spread."
Correction
The original headline of this story indicated that Dr. Joe Vipond had called for the introduction of travel restrictions between provinces. Dr. Vipond did not make such a claim and the headline has since been corrected.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Video shows suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
Ottawa injects another $36M into fund for those seriously injured or killed by vaccines
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Ex-SNC executive sentenced to prison term in bridge bribery case
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.