Special Lodge Bulletin
June 27, 2022
This bulletin provides a major update about Covid-19 health restrictions in our lodges.
Covid-10 related public health measures:
Alberta entered Step 3 of measures-easing a couple of weeks ago. While that move did
not affect the measures in Continuing Care, we have now learned that all Covid-19-
related public health orders in Alberta will lift on June 30, 2022.
Covid-19 is still around, but it is now endemic, so we have to live with it being around
just like the flu. Like the flu, it still threatens vulnerable people, but restrictions cannot
continue, and vaccination is the best protection against severe illness in individuals.
Alberta will cancel all emergency public health orders about Covid-19 and instead roll
its management into their routine infectious disease outbreak manuals. Some measures
will remain, and Covid will be treated much like the flu. Here’s what that means for our
lodges:
What stays:
• Any residents or staff who develop respiratory symptoms must be isolated and
PCR-tested. Those residents will have to stay in their rooms, and those employees
will have to stay away from work until test results trigger the next steps. Such
incidents will be reported to AHS, who will advise us of what comes next.
• Anyone who tests positive must isolate until the symptoms clear up.
• Protocols to be implemented during AHS-declared outbreaks, defined as two or
more residents or staff with Covid-19 at the same time, will include reporting and
other measures that AHS will put into place at the time.
What changes on June 30:
• No more masking of staff and visitors unless AHS reinstates it at some point,
such as during future outbreaks.
• No more extra disinfection of the lodges except during outbreaks.
• No more health screening at the door for visitors and staff.
• People must stay away from the lodges if they have symptoms – and it’s up to
them to self-manage.
• Visitors will no longer have to prove vaccination status to enter the lodges.
• Residents will no longer be isolated or tested after coming home from overnight
trips or hospital stays.
We recognize that these changes may cause anxiety in some and relief in others. Please
remember that the dangers posed by Covid-19 have fallen dramatically and that
vaccination is highly protective against serious outcomes.
Alberta and BVRH will remain on alert and ready to respond and help protect you if a
more dangerous wave of Covid-19 occurs in the future.
