News
Featured Image
Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena HinshawYouTube

Big Tech is censoring us. Subscribe to our email list and bookmark LifeSiteNews.com to continue getting our news.  Subscribe now.

EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) – Alberta’s top doctor says it is time to “live with” COVID-19 and to stop testing and isolating “everyone” who exhibits virus symptoms, despite having ordering some of the strictest COVID-19 lockdown measures in Canada.

“We will not eliminate COVID, which means we need to learn how to live with it. Testing every person with a runny nose or sore throat is an extraordinary measure that we cannot sustain, particularly through the respiratory virus season,” penned Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Alberta in an open letter dated August 4.

Hinshaw’s letter came in response to criticism she faced after announcing on July 28 that, starting at the end of August, the Alberta government will be treating COVID-19 like all other respiratory infections.

In her letter, Hinshaw wrote that legally mandating “everyone to stay home for 10 days if they have any symptoms is also an extraordinary measure,” and was something necessary only “before vaccines.”

“But it is also incredibly disruptive; it could only be justified when the risk was unchecked by vaccine protection. I know the vast majority of Albertans do not want to knowingly inflict harm on others. I believe that for those who test positive for COVID-19, knowing that staying home is the way to protect others, and is the right thing to do, will be enough for them to take that action,” wrote Hinshaw.

She said she was “sorry” if her July 28 comments came across the wrong way. She added that COVID-19 is not over, but there are “other” health threats Albertans face.

“The majority of our public health resources have been directed at the COVID-19 response, as has been necessary. That has come at the cost of not fully working on other threats, like syphilis and opioid deaths,” wrote Hinshaw.

While Hinshaw said it is time to “live” with COVID-19, she defended her earlier lockdown measures as both “necessary and effective.” However, she did admit that they came with “unintended consequences that harmed the health of Albertans in other ways.”

“I care deeply about the health of all Albertans. This means I have to constantly consider not just COVID-19 but all the other threats to people’s health. The majority of our public health resources have been directed at the COVID-19 response, as has been necessary. That has come at the cost of not fully working on other threats, like syphilis and opioid deaths,” wrote Hinshaw.

Hinshaw then said that when it comes to kids and COVID-19, she understands “the anxiety about kids under 12 for whom vaccine is not yet available.” However, she then stated that “risks” from other threats to kids are more likely.

“For children, it is important to think about the much smaller risk of severe outcomes and the consequences of the public health measures we have had in place. We know these have led to problems with kids’ mental health and impacts on learning and development,” wrote Hinshaw.

“We navigate risks for our children every day, and looking at how COVID-19 risks for kids compare with other risks is important to help inform the way forward,” she continued.

“For example, for kids 0 to 9, the risk of an ICU admission for seasonal influenza in the year before COVID was roughly equal to their risk of an ICU admission for COVID. In another example, kids aged 5 to 14 had a 140 times greater risk of an emergency department visit for a sports related injury in 2019 than their risk of COVID-related hospital admission since March of 2020. This doesn’t mean we should ignore the risk to kids from any of these things, but I believe it means we should consider COVID risk in context of all other risks that we face.”

Hinshaw ended her letter urging everyone to “choose to be protected” with COVID-19 injections.

By the end of August, all remaining mask mandates and regular COVID-19 testing in Alberta will end. Those who test positive for the virus will not be mandated to quarantine anymore, and anyone with symptoms and who wants a test must ask their family doctor.

The change in rules means that soon Alberta will be one of the least restricted places in North America when it comes to COVID-19 rules. This is in direct contrast to the rest of Canada’s provinces, all of which still have some COVID-19 measures in place.

Alberta lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions on July 1, becoming the first Canadian province to do so.

This occurred even though from December 2020 to June 2021 Alberta had some of the most stringent COVID-19 rules in place.

The strict rules led to three Alberta Christian pastors being put in jail for defying COVID-19 rules.

One of these pastors, Artur Pawlowski, who made international headlines after being arrested in a highway takedown in May for holding worship services amid lockdowns, could still be facing 21 days in jail if government health authorities get their way.

As for Hinshaw, she has also been on the receiving end of many legal battles for her role in enacting and enforcing COVID-19 rules in the province, many from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney recently said that his government will neither introduce a provincial “vaccine passport” nor accept one if imposed at the federal level. He has also passed a bill that removed a mandatory vaccination clause in provincial law.

LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.