Kenney answers COVID questions on Facebook livestream

Sep 2, 2021 | 12:30 PM

EDMONTON, AB. — After weeks of questions regarding his whereabouts, Premier Jason Kenney answered selected questions from Albertans on a Facebook livestream.

The premier was last seen in public on Aug. 9.

Since then doctors and the Opposition NDP have made frequent calls for the premier to address rising COVID-19 case numbers driven by the highly-contagious Delta variant.

Active cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions have nearly quadrupled in those three weeks. There are currently 12,290 active cases in the province, 465 people in hospital and 107 in ICU.

The premier said he’s been working this week in his Calgary office in the McDougall Centre. He also said he’s been on a summer vacation, his first lengthy one in six years.

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Kenney defended the decision to take questions on his Facebook page instead of a traditional news conference, saying that normally he gets “tens of thousands” of viewers and calling that “public accountability.”

The Premier said the government is considering more public health restrictions to be a last resort and teased an upcoming announcement about a new incentive to encourage Albertans to get vaccinated, as opposed to restrictions.

He says Albertans need to learn to live with the virus and there is no COVID-zero policy.

by Chris Brown