LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf is catching some heat for comments he made regarding this fourth wave of COVID-19.
The UCP Caucus Chair told a local media outlet late last week that he is “very hopeful” the province will see a rapid rise in COVID-19 among unvaccinated people, followed by a rapid decline.
He said “if you watch the signs around the world with this fourth wave, as it’s being called, in the U.K. we also saw a rapid rise of case numbers but then an equally rapid decline as it finished going through the unvaccinated population, it didn’t have anywhere else to go. So I’m very hopeful that we will see the same kind of trend, maybe a bit of an accelerated case rate, but then a very quick decline as well, allowing us to safely keep businesses open so we don’t have to add further restrictions.”
Joe Ceci is Caucus Chair for the New Democrat Party and Official Opposition.
He addressed the issue on Monday saying Neudorf’s comments reflect on all of his colleagues including the Premier and Health Minister.
Ceci says “we have written to Mr. Neudorf and called for him to resign his position as Chair of the UCP Caucus. He must apologize to Albertans and make it clear that his callus disregard for the wellbeing of Albertans, especially kids, especially the immunocompromised, is not the official position of the United Conservative Party Caucus.”
A MyLethbridgeNow request for comment from Neudorf was answered with a written statement late Monday.
“To clarify the point that I was trying to make last week, COVID cases have risen in Alberta over the past several weeks, largely among the unvaccinated population. This is a matter of fact.
Looking at data from the UK, the hope is that cases will level off soon and drop due to the fact that most Albertans are already vaccinated. Vaccines work and are showing tremendous effect against COVID, including its many variants, and that’s especially true on serious infections.
Over 90% of those in ICU are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated. For those under 12, we thankfully have seen very little in the way of serious outcomes. Right now, the flu is a greater risk to children than COVID. As a parent of 5 children, I too am concerned about all children and their health and safety.
I am confident in the approach we are taking as a province, it is time for our kids to get back to school and back to normal.”
Over the weekend there were 3,056 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Alberta with an average provincial positivity rate of around 10.4 percent.