The federal health minister writes to Alberta, requesting science to support the decision to abolish COVID-19 limits.

Patty Hajdu, the federal health minister, has written to her Alberta counterpart, expressing her alarm over the province's decision to abolish all COVID-19 health limitations. In her letter to Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Hajdu says she agrees with the Canadian Paediatric Society that the move is an "unnecessary and risky gamble."

On Thursday, Shandro retaliated, accusing Hajdu of unfairly targeting Alberta for political benefit. "It's beyond ironic that at the same time Min. Hajdu was supposedly delivering her letter of concern, her boss is planning to tour the country for his opportunistic election," Shandro said in a statement.

According to Hajdu's letter, which was sent on Sunday, current modeling for Alberta predicts a more dramatic comeback in COVID-19 cases spurred by the delta variation, and that all governments must take appropriate precautions to protect Canadians. Hajdu says she wants to learn more about the research and reasoning behind Alberta's decision.

The province discontinued contact tracing last week and stated that close contacts of those who tested positive for COVID-19 are not required to isolate. Those who have been afflicted will no longer be quarantined as of August 16. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, came up with the idea to eliminate limitations, according to Shandro and Premier Jason Kenney, and she has been clear about her reasoning. According to the administration, the judgments are based on science and evidence.

Hinshaw told that Alberta Health is working on releasing new modeling data that suggests COVID-19 instances would undoubtedly grow, but the health system will not be overburdened. According to Hinshaw, Alberta should redirect its resources to other public health issues such as declining childhood immunization rates and syphilis.

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