November 11th, 2020

Dear Premier Kenney and Minister Shandro:

As Albertans, we would like to express our serious concern about the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in our province. We have
reached a juncture where only decisive, strong measures can reliably prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
We therefore urge the Government of Alberta to institute a set of time limited public health restrictions that would consist at
minimum of:

● direction to work from home for anyone who is able;

● limiting contacts to those within the household;
● closure of indoor activities, including but not restricted to:
o dining, bars, casinos, and theatres
o places of worship
o group recreation/sports activities
● We further urge the Government to adopt the Masks4Canada Recommendations of October 28, 2020
(https://masks4canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/M4CAlbertaconsiderationsfinal.pdf), including immediately
adopting the Federal COVID-19 tracing app to supplement in-person contact tracing methods.

We are seeing an exponential rise in cases, high levels of test positivity, and high percentages of cases of unknown origin. This
means that it cannot be determined where most people are getting COVID-19 and it is likely that public places where people are
unmasked and not distanced are contributing to our high numbers. It is clear that the current contact tracing system is not working
properly. As numbers continue to go up, Albertans with illness or injury will have difficulty accessing care as hospital beds will fill
up with COVID-19 patients and active outbreaks continue in at least 9 acute care hospitals. This makes Albertans fearful of seeking
medical care and endangers patients in the hospital with other illnesses or injuries.

The Edmonton zone has already deferred 30% of non-urgent surgeries to account for these stresses. More cancellations will lead to
delays in important health services including cancer screening, imaging, and surgeries. This will lead to serious consequences
including a deterioration in the health of many Albertans.

Intensive care unit admissions and deaths have also increased markedly in the past week and will continue to rise for weeks as
current infections progress, even if transmission drops immediately. Voluntary measures, requested October 9, have not blunted the
rise in cases. Our testing system is strained and contact tracing capacities are collapsing. We have seen how quickly health systems
in other countries have collapsed when COVID-19 spread goes unchecked.

Every effort should be made to keep elementary schools and daycares, which are essential services, open for in-person learning.
We see no way for Alberta to flatten the curve other than to implement mandatory restrictions, like those implemented in Winnipeg,
Toronto, the UK, Germany and elsewhere. We recognize that lockdowns have their own harms, but the negative impacts of rapidly
rising numbers of COVID-19 (large scale loss of life, suffering and an overwhelmed health system) necessitate strong measures in
the short term.

We have confidence in Alberta’s health system and the care it provides, but we believe that it is in jeopardy unless urgent action is
taken. Please keep us safe by ensuring that Albertans can continue to access good quality healthcare.

Resources: Alberta Recommendations (Oct 28, 2020) (https://masks4canada.org/alberta/)