Premier Jason Kenney joined the December 15th COVID-19 update to announce assistance to areas of Alberta facing high rates of transmission. The province is working with local municipalities to provide COVID care teams to support those in the affected communities. 

For now, COVID-19 care teams will be assisting areas of Calgary and Edmonton with the high transmission rates. 

“These heaviest hit areas tend to be lower-income areas where people naturally live in higher-density housing arrangements sometimes with multi-generational families that can make it very difficult for family members to self-isolate effectively if needed…” explained Kenney. 

“Many of these families also have English language barriers which in some cases may make it more difficult to obtain current and accurate health information and to access the social supports that are available to them.”

In response to the range of diverse people, COVID-19 care teams will include a variety of community groups to assist those who need it. 

“COVID care teams will be comprised of on the ground community groups and organizations who have built long-standing trusting relationships with these community members. They will include municipal and provincial resources, community organizations, cultural organizations, translators, social workers, faith leaders, and settlement organizations,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard. 

She believes a coordinated approach is needed in order to lower the transmission rate in the communities that are most affected. 

The Government of Alberta will be providing care packages to those in the affected areas that contain masks, hand sanitizer, and relevant information about the virus and expanding Alberta’s free self-isolation support. 

“I’ve directed that we massively the self-isolation support particularly for people in these hardest-hit communities and offer strong incentives for people to participate. As a result, Alberta now has 16 self-isolation hotels ready for those who need them,” said Kenney. 

There are six isolation hotels in Calgary, nine in Edmonton, and one in Peace River. The Government currently works on procuring more isolation hotels for Fort McMurray and Red Deer. 

Those using the isolation hotels will be provided a temporary emergency payment of $625 when they have completed their isolation in order to help lower-income families isolate. 

The province will also be launching public information campaigns about COVID-19 and the vaccine that are accessible to Albertans in different languages.