Alberta to drop COVID isolation guidance, close testing centres, allow more bivalent boosters
CBC
Alberta is making significant changes to its COVID-19 measures, scaling back on some protections while allowing additional bivalent booster doses for those in certain high-risk groups.
Scott Johnston, press secretary for the health minister, shared the changes Wednesday with CBC News. They cover testing, bivalent booster doses and isolation guidance. The province says the changes are a step toward a "more sustainable approach to COVID-19."
According to Johnston, additional bivalent booster doses will soon be available for Albertans who are at higher risk of severe outcomes.
Starting on April 3, Albertans 65 and older and those 18 and older with immunocompromising conditions will be able to book and receive additional booster shots.
Alberta Health Service is set to close its COVID-19 testing facilities on March 31. Because of this, the province is changing testing recommendations.
Most Albertans, including health-care workers, will be expected to rely on rapid antigen tests, Johnston said. Rapids tests are available for free at pharmacies across the province. To Jenne, the closing of the testing facilities is disappointing because it will limit information on the virus and how it's affecting the community. "It limits our ability to track, for example, variants and other critical features that allow us to perhaps stay ahead of future waves or future variants that might emerge in the province," he said. However, Jenne noted that data will still be collected through wastewater testing and diagnostic tests in hospitals.
The province's new changes also drop the recommendation that people with COVID-19 isolate for five days. Health-care workers are an exception to this guidance. Moving forward, the province will be urging those with respiratory virus symptoms or a positive test to "stay home as long as necessary to minimize transmission." Jenne said the previous recommendation wasn't offering much protection, mainly because many Albertan weren't adhering to it. "I think that this is really a change in wording that is not really going to impact our daily lives in Alberta, because essentially people were not following the recommendation," he said.
