Kenney says new restrictions are coming, condemns those continuing to violate public health orders

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — “The reason we are at this critical stage of the pandemic in Alberta, with record-high daily case counts, and intensive care numbers, is precisely because, for whatever reason, too many Albertans are ignoring the rules we currently have in place.”

That coming from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney Monday as he voiced his displeasure with those continuing to violate the province’s public health orders.

Kenney took to Twitter Sunday to denounce a rodeo that took place over the weekend near Bowden.

RELATED: Massive gathering at Bowden-area rodeo a ‘slap in the face’ to Albertans, says Kenney

Again, during Monday’s update, Kenney called out those who simply seem to believe the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax.

“It is as astounding as it is aggravating that 14 months into this, more than 2,000 deaths in Alberta alone, that we still have many people in the province who don’t even believe that COVID is real, who think that it’s some kind of big government conspiracy or hoax,” he said.

Kenney pointed to our neighbours to the east and west in Saskatchewan and B.C. who he says have roughly the same restrictions Alberta does, but our case count continues to rise, while theirs fall.

Because of this, Kenney says more restrictions are on the way.

“Given the issues we saw this weekend, and the record high cases reported, we are developing a package of stronger public health measures which I expect to announce (Tuesday).”

READ MORE: Alberta identifies 2,012 new cases of COVID-19, active cases rise over 23,000

Kenney visibly became more upset as he urged Albertans to do their part in helping us get to the end of this pandemic, saying it will take everyone pitching in to help us enjoy the summer.

During Monday’s question period, the premier was asked why anyone should have faith in his government to lead Alberta through the third wave of this pandemic when things have only gotten worse.

In response, Kenney criticized the need to politicize the pandemic and turn it into a blame game.

“If all you want is consistency, we could have, I guess, tried a consistent approach of absolutely total lockdowns, for months upon months, some other jurisdictions have done that, the cost of that could have been enormous,” he said. “Or, we could have taken the approach of some U.S. states and consistently left things wide open and had an unacceptably high death rate.”

Kenney backed his government’s consistent approach to the pandemic, saying it focused on protecting lives and the health care system and minimizing the impact of restrictions on the province’s social health.

Kenney continued to face tough questions throughout Monday’s question period, including being asked how he can’t shoulder some of the blame for how the pandemic has gone in Alberta.

The premier continued to back his government’s approach up to this point and continued to point to vaccines as the ticket out of all of this.

When asked why he is making an announcement about Tuesday’s announcement, Kenney reached to find words before saying talks continue to happen with public health officials, and, again, pointing towards vaccines.

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