Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes. (CHAT News Today)

By David Opinko

NDP accuses Southern Alberta MLA of spreading “conspiracy theories” on COVID, calls for firing

Jan 29, 2021 | 1:27 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Alberta’s New Democrats say Premier Jason Kenney “must fire Drew Barnes” from the UCP caucus.

The MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat was interviewed on the Western Standard on Thursday. In the 18-minute exchange, Barnes discussed several matters including COVID-19 restrictions, government spending, Keystone XL, and more.

When speaking out on testing for COVID-19, he said that “we’re hearing here that our tests may be 50 per cent ineffective.”

Barnes also commended the people of his riding and across the province for following the rules when it comes to the use of face masks, “even though it’s debatable about the effectiveness.”

“More than 1,600 Albertans have been killed by COVID-19. Albertans have made incredible sacrifices to keep each other safe,” says NDP Deputy Leader Sarah Hoffman. “For Drew Barnes to suggest this has all been some kind of hoax is deplorable. This is a leadership test moment for Jason Kenney. He must remove Barnes from the government caucus: full stop.”

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“Drew Barnes is putting Albertans in real danger when he suggests that people can disregard the results of their COVID-19 test and that masks may not work,” added David Shepherd, NDP Critic for Health. “It’s unacceptable for an elected official to spread conspiracy theories and lies, especially when there are fears that the new, highly contagious COVID-19 variant strains will spread in our community.”

On Friday, Barnes released a statement via a series of Tweets, declaring that he “misstated an important point about testing.”

“PCR testing is effective, but according to Public Health Canada, a high number of false negatives (source: https://bit.ly/3j6EmbG) can present within the first five-days of exposure to the virus.”

Cited in his Tweet, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) states that, during the incubation period (the first five days), that “Up to half of those tested will get a false negative result and may infect others,” and that the level of accuracy with COVID-19 tests depends on when you get tested.

After that period, PHAC claims that there is a “low false negative rate.”

“I didn’t clearly state that I was referring to testing within the five-day incubation period, and this created confusion, for which I apologize,” said Barnes.