Alberta to announce restrictions being lifted "early next week"

Alberta is set to announce an easing of restrictions sometime early next week, Premier Jason Kenney teased Thursday evening.

“Early next week, the COVID cabinet committee will approve a plan to lift restrictions, starting with the Restrictions Exemption Program,” Kenney tweeted.

Kenney added the province is in a better position to manage future waves of COVID-19 due to high vaccination rates and other COVID-19 medications.

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“The REP has done its job,” added Kenney. “Vaccines are still tremendously powerful in preventing severe outcomes, and the single best thing you can do to keep things open is to get your booster shot.”

“We will lay out a simple phased plan to remove almost all public health restrictions later this month.”

Kenney added that COVID-19 will likely be with us for the rest of our lives.

Early next week, the COVID cabinet committee will approve a plan to lift restrictions, starting with the Restrictions Exemption Program.

We can – and must – get on with our lives, restore our freedoms, and live with joy, not fear.

📽 WATCH: ⬇ pic.twitter.com/Rm3zNp0G27

— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) February 4, 2022

The announcement comes a day after Saskatchewan’s premier announced it would stop posting daily COVID-19 numbers, eventually switching to an endemic approach to the virus.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, agreed on Thursday that Alberta would eventually be approaching COVID-19 through an endemic lens.

“This is the direction we need to move. This is a shift in thinking that can be challenging,” said Hinshaw, adding that once the Omicron wave subsides, the province can shift to an endemic model.