Premier Jason Kenney has announced Calgary and Brooks will be proceeding with the next phase of reopening businesses and services.
As of Monday, hair stylists and barber shops can open in those communities as can cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars at half-capacity.
On June 1, day camps and summer schools, with occupancy limits, can also open and there will be additional flexibility for places of worship and funeral services.
Kenney however, says we are not out of the woods yet adding COVID-19 still poses a very real risk and we must continue to act responsibly and look out for one another.
The number of novel coronavirus deaths in Alberta has reached 132 and Kenney says that number is likely to rise.
He’s encouraging Albertans to continue practicing physical distancing and enhanced hygiene including masks where physical distancing is difficult.
Health Minister Tyler Shandro also announced Friday that scheduled in-patient surgeries, which require overnight stays in hospital, will be resuming province-wide this week as well.
With increased testing in the province, he says he’s confident hospitals can safely restart more services.
Urgent and emergency surgeries have been available throughout the pandemic but others were put on hold to make sure the health-care system had capacity to deal with COVID-19 patients.
Shandro says Albertans who have been waiting the longest will receive care first.
About 3,000 day surgeries have been done across the province since they were allowed to resume May 4.