New Restrictions: Alberta Reduces Large Indoor Venue Capacity, Bans Dancing at Restaurants Effective December 24th

Alberta has unveiled new restrictions effective Christmas Eve to combat the rise of COVID-19 cases due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

The measures announced by Minister of Health Jason Copping include reduction of capacity of large venues, suspension of dancing and other interactive activities at restaurants and limit in liquor serving hours.

These new measures will affect NHL games and IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship and will inevitably cause the cancellation of some New Year’s Eve Parties.

The province is also asking residents to reduce their social contacts by 50 per cent during the holiday season.

List of New Measures:

The new mandatory measures taking effect at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 24 are:

For venues in the Restrictions Exemption Program – 50 per cent capacity limit at venues that seat more than 1,000 people.
For venues with capacity of between 500 and 1,000 occupants, the capacity is capped at 500.
No food or drink consumption in seated audience settings or during intermissions in the above-mentioned venues.
There is no impact on venues under 500.
Maximum table capacity of 10 people in restaurants, pubs and bars. No mingling between tables.
No interactive activities at restaurants, pubs and bars (e.g., dancing, darts and billiards).
Restaurants, pubs and bars must stop liquor service at 11 p.m., and close at 12:30 a.m.

Other restrictions including mandatory masking continue to be in place for both indoor and outdoor social gatherings, weddings, funerals, places of worship and businesses.

Premier Jason Kenney announcing the restrictions said, “While these new measures will hopefully lower the risk at large events, our small everyday actions can have a big impact. This is why I appeal to all Albertans to reduce their number of contacts by half over the coming weeks, follow the guidelines already in place, and get the vaccine booster as soon as they are eligible. It’s the single most important thing anybody can do right now to protect themselves from Omicron.”

The province expanded COVID-19 vaccine boosters to all Albertans aged 18 and older today at an interval of five months after the second dose.

The province is also distributing rapid test kits through various pharmacies and other locations. Premier Jason Kenney noted that the province is planning to procure 10 million more tests in addition to the kits distributed by Ottawa.