Cases of COVID-19 continuing to rise in Alberta and across Canada, as of Monday afternoon there were 301 confirmed cases in Alberta and 1,646 across the country.

With that in mind, Premier Jason Kenney had some strong words for snowbirds who are returning to the country in the midst of the crisis.

“They must self-isolate in their home immediately upon return to Alberta. This does not mean going to the grocery store, it does not mean dropping your RV off at a servicing company to be serviced, it does not mean going and visiting the grand-kids,” Kenney explained.

“It means one thing and one thing only, you must go directly and immediately to your home [and self-isolate].”

A couple from Rocky View County who recently returned early from their annual trip to Mexico, say they take the self-isolation mandate seriously, but had some concerns about how they were informed about it when they arrived back in Canada.

“We thought they’d be doing a more thorough check, we thought they’d be checking your temperature, but as we got off the plane and came down the corridor, it was business as usual,” said Blair Macey.

“They just handed you a pamphlet with facts about the coronavirus and symptoms and just asked us if we were going to self-quarantine. Of course, we said yes. Not sure what would have happened if we had said no.”

Blair and his wife Susan, are self-isolating at home and have had family drop off the supplies they need. They just hope others are taking it seriously as well.

“It would have been nice to come back to normal situations. Hug your grandkids, your kids and your friends and welcome home,” he said. “But, we understand the situation and we’re just trying to abide by the rules and we hope everybody else does too.”

Alberta’s Premier said people should be doing just that and asking friends and family to help get groceries and prescriptions if needed or use delivery services while they are in self-isolation.

However, Kenney said he’s hearing far too many accounts where people aren’t taking the direction to self-isolate seriously and said the province may look at fines or penalties in order to get people to comply.

“[Self-isolation] is an absolute public health imperative and we are prepared to, if necessary, use stronger legal tools to impose that obligation on people and stronger penalties if they violate that direction from our public health officer,” the Premier stated.

Meanwhile, the Macey’s say they are both feeling healthy and look forward to the self-isolation period being done.

 

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