Well, prairie home dogs, the time has come! After much anticipation, Premier Jason Kenney finally took to the podium today to address moving forward with Alberta’s new plan to ease COVID restrictions province-wide.

As we’re sure you remember, Kenney announced earlier this month that instead of adjusting mandates based simply on case numbers, they would begin to focus more on how many people have been admitted into the hospitals.

In order to flatten the curve, we were asked to take baby steps, each of which would be reevaluated every three weeks. Now, 21 days after kicking things off the government has announced that effective today, March 1st, we will be moving onwards and upwards.

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We still have a long way to go, friends but this means that things like hotels and gyms will get a little more wiggle room to operate.

The following are business and venues that will be affected:

LIBRARIES

Libraries may now reopen, however, capacity is limited to 15% of fire code occupancy, not including staff, which means we can get our read on, Calgary!

FITNESS CENTRES

Gyms and studios, spas, pools indoor rinks, community halls, and recreational centres may now open for low-intensity, classes, and individual workouts. This includes barre, pilates, stretching, tai-chi, low-intensity yoga (e.g. Hatha, yin), light weightlifting, and indoor rock climbing.

However: 

  • No sports games, competitions, team practice, or league play of any kind are allowed.
  • All indoor fitness must be scheduled or by appointment – no drop-ins allowed.
  • High-intensity workouts (aerobics, heavy weightlifting, etc.) will require a trainer and may only be 1 on 1.

Unfortunately, they have delayed easing restrictions on things like retail or banquet halls until step 3, but fingers crossed that the time will fly by.

If you still have questions or need more clarity on the government’s plan to ease COVID restrictions, you can visit the government’s website here. Until next time, stay safe, be kind, and continue to wash your hands. We’ve got this!