CP NewsAlert: Alberta clamps down as COVID variants threaten to swamp health system

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is reinstituting some public-health restrictions, saying that variant cases of COVID-19 continue to soar and are on track to swamp the health system by mid-May.

Kenney says that as of Friday, restaurants must close to in-person dining.

Retail stores will be allowed 15 per cent customer capacity rather than the current 25 per cent, and low-intensity group fitness activities are once again banned.

Indoor social gatherings remain banned and outdoor get-togethers can have no more than 10 people.

Kenney says Alberta is now seeing a third wave of COVID-19, driven mainly by the more contagious and dangerous variants.

The province has averaged about 1,000 new COVID-19 cases a day during the Easter long weekend, and the death total has now surpassed 2,000 in the province.

The Canadian Press