Just who is restricted by what, exactly?

By COLLIN GALLANT on May 6, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Albertans are trying to keep track of two sets of pandemic restrictions, announced four days apart, and with different thresholds, but still allow for regional differences based on case rates and active cases of COVID-19.

Last week, AHS announced that steeply increased restrictions would apply to communities where the rate of infection was above 350 cases per 100,000 people in the population, and where the actual number of cases was above 250.

That helped some smaller municipalities from being caught up by the regulations, but new measures announced Tuesday and detailed on Wednesday morning include blanket restrictions across the province, but also lesser measures for areas with few cases.

That new level is 50 cases per 100,000 people and 30 active cases.

Medicine Hat was near original limits on Tuesday as Premier Jason Kenney announced new standards, and it was well-above the new lower case threshold, meaning stricter standards apply locally.

But so does Cypress County, which appeared well below the levels of regional “hot spot” restrictions in place last weekend.

At the time of Wednesday’s announcement detailing new restrictions included a list of low-count jurisdictions, including the counties of Newell and Forty Mile, the Special Areas and Acadia Valley, in the southeast among several dozen locales in the province.

In all parts of Alberta, restaurants, bars and pubs will be closed after May 9 to in-person dining, including on patios, though take-out and delivery service can continue.

However, in low-case municipalities, personal service providers could continue to operate on an appointment-only basis, funeral and wedding services limited to 20 people with no receptions, as opposed to 10 people elsewhere, and the limit for outdoor gatherings would be 10 people, double the blanket number elsewhere.

Other religious services across Alberta are limited to 15 people, down from 15 per cent of fire capacity.