Article content continued
Albertans are looking to Kenney and his government to lead, Shepherd continued, and “instead, we get an associate minister saying UCP’s plan is to ‘wait and see’ while they all take the brunt.”
Shepherd was referencing Jason Luan, associate minister of mental health and addictions, who was recorded in a virtual town hall on Friday saying the government’s criteria is measured against the hospitals’ capacity to handle ICUs and hospitalizations.
“So we’re waiting to see where that threshold will be pushed to our limit, then gradually reduce more activities that way,” Luan said.
After the video of him began circulating online, Luan posted on Facebook to say he was incorrect in suggesting that the government is waiting until hospitals are at capacity.
“The government, based on expert advice of public health officials such as Dr. Hinshaw, is making evidence-based decisions to avoid getting to that point — a goal we all support. I truly regret any confusion my statement has caused,” Luan said, clarifying that he is not involved in the decision-making of new restrictions or hospital capacity.
An hour after Alberta Health’s update was live online, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that it’s imperative the country get the second wave of infections under control.
“I’m going to sound repetitive here, but bear with me — it’s important. We need to get this second wave under control. We can do that by reducing our contacts and staying home whenever possible, wearing our masks, washing our hands, keeping our distance and using (the) COVID-19 Alert app,” said Trudeau.
