00:03:30.360We have vaccinated 85% of those with chronic conditions that could lead to COVID sickness.
00:03:37.020And so we've really almost maxed out, I would say, the most vulnerable categories.
00:03:41.900Andrew, we are suffering the highest total number of active cases and daily case counts in the entire 14 months of the pandemic in Alberta.
00:03:50.880As you probably know, while most provinces are going down in their numbers,
00:03:55.180we're the only one that's going up very, very aggressively right now with the numbers.
00:06:23.240And we hope, and I do believe we'll be able to bring it to tighten up that duration.
00:06:26.680I will point out that there has been a study out of, out of the UK that at least with the AstraZeneca, that there is a greater protective effect with a longer duration between the two.
00:06:39.040So we're following all the science on that.
00:06:41.860Let's talk about that trajectory you mentioned with Alberta's cases going up.
00:06:46.020I know that you've been in a very tricky position in the past, and I think you and I spoke about this in December, where you've got a constituency that wants any and all restrictions possible, and you've got another that wants none.
00:06:58.400And you, like, you know, so many of your colleagues across the country have to find a way to keep both sides happy, which oftentimes ends up angering both sides.
00:07:06.660But you've prided yourself on having, generally speaking, laxer restrictions in Alberta than other parts of the country.
00:07:14.760Do you think that is something that can be blamed for you going up when other provinces are seeing their cases go down?
00:07:21.960Well, I get asked that question every day, and I don't think that's fair.
00:07:25.640It's a fair question, but I don't think it's true.
00:07:29.160And I'll give you a couple of examples why.
00:07:31.180Our neighbouring provinces of Saskatchewan and B.C. have had broadly similar restrictions and policies in place for the past few months through, let's say, 2021.
00:07:41.540And yet their numbers are dropping pretty quickly, and ours are going up even faster.
00:07:47.840You know, similarly, Montana, just to our south, our neighbours in Montana lifted all restrictions in the third week of January, and they have almost no new cases now.
00:07:58.740And they're not that far ahead of us on vaccinations.
00:08:05.740Now, one caveat there, they had, like most U.S. states, much higher natural immunity through antibodies because there was a lot more viral spread.
00:08:12.680But the point is that, you know, if you look at the three western provinces as a case study, broadly similar policies, they're going down, we're going up.
00:08:23.860And that, you know, I have to infer a couple of things.
00:08:28.380First of all, we have lower levels of compliance.
00:08:30.560And I think that may just be because Alberta has more of a freedom-loving libertarian political culture, which I think is a good thing.
00:08:36.360But it does, unfortunately, mean in this context that there is a larger share of people, I think, who have just moved past all of this, and they're just not paying any attention to the measures.
00:08:47.580Secondly, we have the youngest population by far in Canada.
00:08:51.140And this disease, as you know, spreads most easily and rapidly amongst younger people.
00:08:56.740It's just younger people are more likely to be out and about and socializing.
00:08:59.660That's just the nature of people in their 20s and 30s versus those in their 50s and 70s.
00:09:05.140Thirdly, we have by far the biggest workforce as a share of population, the highest workforce participation rate.
00:09:14.080So there's a larger number of people relatively out and about in the workforce encountering others and therefore open to infection.
00:09:22.900So, and finally, we've had pretty crappy spring weather, which has kept people homebound, I think, a lot more than normally would be the case.
00:09:30.520So I think when you add up all of those factors, that may explain why we've had different outcomes compared to our neighboring provinces.
00:09:39.380But when you mention that libertarian spirit, are you sympathetic to people that have said,
00:09:44.700listen, I don't want to play by these lockdown rules, because a lot of these people have settled in Alberta precisely because they think that Alberta is the province that isn't going to use that heavy hand of government against its citizens?
00:09:56.220Yes, I could not be more sympathetic to people who jealously guard their freedoms and are skeptical of government overreach.
00:10:02.840I always say I'm proud and happy to live in a province where there is a good number of people who jealously guard their freedoms.
00:10:13.640But in this situation, I think there is some people have, and I say this with respect, have a misunderstanding that if they take the risks, it's only about their own chances of illness and that they, as grown as mature adults, should be able to make those choices for themselves because it's only going to affect them.
00:10:35.540And what that view misses, Andrew, is that this is a contagious, virulent, transmissible disease.
00:10:44.260And so the conduct of each one of us can and often does affect those around us.
00:10:50.880And the collective action in our society can have devastating impact, whether we like it or not.
00:10:59.200And so, you know, later today, I'll be doing my own interview with a friend of mine, Jay Chaudhry, who was one of the first people to get COVID in Alberta 14 months ago.
00:11:11.520Healthy, middle-aged father who attended a prayer meeting.
00:11:16.020And there was, you know, no one had any expectation they'd be making each other sick there.
00:11:20.840But most people at that meeting got sick.
00:11:34.240There was somebody at that event who worked at a long-term care facility, unwittingly brought the virus, we think, into that facility.
00:11:41.600There were dozens of deaths that followed from that.
00:11:43.940There was somebody at that meeting who was, I understand, married to somebody who worked at a meatpacking plant,
00:11:49.440which ultimately resulted in one of the biggest outbreaks in the province.
00:11:53.020So I'm just giving you an example of how totally innocent behavior, well-intentioned, good people who at that time, we didn't know about, you know, we were still very early in COVID.
00:12:07.100We didn't have in place the appropriate protections.
00:12:10.560But if we'd had restrictions on basic things like that at the time, that alone might have saved many lives.
00:12:20.860I totally sympathize with freedom-minded people.
00:12:25.960I share their frustration and even their anger at everything that's going on here.
00:12:31.500But I just beg them to understand that the conduct of each of us can affect others.
00:12:36.340And right now, if we don't get this spike under control, it will force us, the government, to do mass cancellations of surgeries in order to open up more ICU beds.
00:12:46.980And so I just say to those people, thank you for being focused on freedom.
00:12:55.240But please understand, you might have a loved one, a friend, a neighbor who needs that hospital bed, needs that surgery.
00:13:04.620Please, let's just pull together and protect those folks right now.
00:13:07.100You mentioned the lack of knowledge and understanding we had about COVID and about the pandemic 14 months ago.
00:13:13.480That's changed dramatically in the last year and a bit.
00:13:16.920You've had restaurants that have put huge amounts of money into installing plexiglass barriers, spacing out tables.
00:13:23.540You've got other businesses as well, like nail salons.
00:13:26.440Businesses that were, in a lot of ways, sold a bill of goods, that their jobs were going to be protected, that they could find a way to safely operate.
00:13:34.420And these are now, in much of the province, shut down.
00:13:37.040So, I mean, why can we not learn from COVID and allow businesses that have made these changes, that can offer some restricted service, to stay open?
00:13:49.720In fact, I've been viciously attacked because our government significantly relaxed public health restrictions in areas like that through most of 2021.
00:14:03.280I started repealing those in February.
00:14:05.280Exactly for that reason, because, you know, I think most of those, the vast majority of those businesses were extremely conscientious, made investments, and took great care to do everything possible to limit spread.
00:14:21.200And we did not see, we didn't see explosive growth coming from any one of those businesses or sectors in particular.
00:14:29.440But here's the problem, we've now ended up in a situation where we're experiencing, we're now pushing 3,000 daily cases, we have 26,000 active cases, by far, we are over twice the Canadian average.
00:14:48.160And if we don't hit the brakes right now, we are going to zoom past the maximum capacity of our healthcare system by early June.
00:14:56.680And so we're at a point where targeted restrictions, like what you're talking about, are no longer effective.
00:15:06.520We simply have to stop general social interaction.
00:15:09.820But we're still doing that with a lighter touch than your province and Quebec and most other provinces have, most European countries, many U.S. states.
00:15:32.700We've always kept the vast majority of businesses open.
00:15:35.400Right now, at least 90% of businesses are able to operate.
00:15:38.780That is no small comfort to the hair salon or the restaurant that's largely suspended right now.
00:15:48.200But we've tried our best to keep a balanced approach.
00:15:51.660But is there any data suggesting that patio spread is a big problem, that hair salon spread is a big problem?
00:15:58.960Is there any data suggesting that these are at all sources of significant transmission above and beyond what you'd get in workplaces like meatpacking plants or in household social interaction?
00:16:10.480Well, it's absolutely clear that household interaction is the driving factor for spread, at least here.
00:16:16.880I think in Ontario, the data suggests there's more workplace spread.
00:16:20.280Here, as of two weeks ago, based on all of our traceable cases, about only 5% were coming from workplaces.
00:16:28.100So that begs the question, Premier, why are we shutting down workplaces?
00:16:31.280Well, I'll just finish it, because 30% of the cases we cannot trace.
00:16:35.360So it's clearly a higher number than that.
00:16:37.640But the point is, and that's why we resisted suspending any additional workplaces with much criticism.
00:16:44.880But we're now in a situation where, again, contact tracing is being overwhelmed by the number of new cases.
00:16:51.640And the viral spread, because, look, we can't stop people from living with others at home.
00:17:30.880So the only interaction that we can stop are things like, at this point, some of those commercial activities where there's socializing or gyms where there's a lot of physical exertion that can be a cause for spread.
00:17:43.840But even outdoor fitness, this is one that we've seen numerous studies suggesting it's virtually non-existent.
00:17:50.620Why was that not at least some middle ground that you could have kept on the table that, you know what, outdoor gatherings can be a little bit more lax?
00:17:58.580And I know you do have a different limit, but outdoor fitness activities are not allowed.
00:18:02.960Well, they are amongst people in the same family cohort.
00:18:06.180And I just was walking, did a walk through a park here and saw people, a group of five people doing some kind of an exercise class.
00:18:29.380So, again, we have never taken the radical approach of most European countries, some Canadian provinces and U.S. states, which has been stay-at-home orders, barring people even from going outside and getting exercise.