Daily COVID-19 Update: March 31, 2020

Isolation Rules

To align with new federal rules under the Quarantine Act, Albertans under mandatory self-isolation are now required to remain inside and can only go for walks on their own property, such as their backyard, for the duration of their self-isolation. People can no longer go for walks in their neighbourhoods or through parks until their self-isolation period ends and people who live in apartment buildings or highrises must stay inside and cannot use the elevators or stairwells to go outside. This applies to everyone in mandatory self-isolation – those who are feeling well and those who have symptoms of COVID-19 including cough, fever, shortness of breath or a runny nose. Albertans are legally required to self-isolate for 14 days if they have returned from travel outside of Canada after March 12 or are a close contact of a person who tested positive for COVID-19.

If you become sick during this time, you must self-isolate for an additional 10 days from the beginning of symptoms or until you are feeling well, whichever takes longer. Read more about how to self-isolate.

AHS Faster Lab Testing

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is partnering with a Canadian technology company to provide rapid testing for COVID-19 for Alberta. Spartan Bioscience is developing a COVID-19 test kit that would allow AHS lab workers to test for suspected COVID-19 in rural communities, rather than needing to send test samples to the two centralized laboratories in Edmonton and Calgary. More details are available in this AHS news release.

Provincial Legislature Focus

The Government of Alberta is proposing three key pieces of legislation to protect Albertans while continuing the fight against COVID-19. Proposed provincial legislation announced today includes:

• Bill 10, Public Health (Emergency Powers) Amendment Act, 2020. If passed, this bill will provide law enforcement agencies full authority to enforce public health orders during a pandemic.
• Bill 11, Tenancies Statutes (Emergency Provisions) Amendment Act, 2020. If passed, this bill will ensure no one will be retroactively charged for residential rent increases or late fees while the state of public health emergency is in effect.
• In addition to debating these bills, the government is proposing Bill 12, Liabilities Management Statutes Amendment Act, 2020. If passed, this bill will enable the government to clarify and enable expanded, delegated authority for the Orphan Well Association to maintain and manage orphan sites.