Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a press conference this week that Albertans should be prepared for the COVID-19 outbreak to continue over the next few months at least.

Kenney was asked by a reporter for his thoughts on the fact some people believe this is a short term issue that will be resolved quickly.

“It’s my duty as Premier to offer people a sense of hope, but it’s also my obligation to be realistic and honest,” he said.

“I believe there are reasons for hope, that we’ll come out of this stronger than ever, but this will take some time and I think Albertans need to start to wrap their heads around that.”

Kenney said their experts estimate the virus will peak in the province in around four to five weeks, so the mid to end of April. He said they hope to see a decline in the intensity after that, but it will continue to pose a threat to public health.

“Many of the social distancing measures that we have had to implement are likely to be in place at least through the end of May,” he said.

Kenney said there are hopes Alberta gets some lucky breaks, that the social distancing measures prove to be effective, that the peak hits earlier and fewer people are affected, but those are all hopes.

“To be realistic, based on the velocity of the disease around the world, we can expect this to pose a very real threat to public safety for at least the next two or three months,” the Premier stated.

Kenney adds that until a vaccine is developed and made available the virus will likely continue to pose a threat. With the added pressures of the current state of the economy and stock markets recording major losses, Kenney says Alberta will likely feel the impact throughout the year.

“I think Albertans need to know what their government thinks of this,” the Premier explained. “We’re in tough for the balance of 2020, and we’ll get through it, but it’s not going to be in a couple of weeks.”

Kenney adds that none of this is a guarantee because no one knows for certain what will happen and Albertans should remain hopeful, but he wants them to also be realistic.