On Monday, July 13 Premier Jason Kenney provided Albertans with an update on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kenney looked at the progress Alberta has had over the past few months along with providing up to date numbers for the province.

The Premier talked about Alberta's slowing infection rate and availability of testing, as well as the strength and resilience of Albertans in dealing with the current crisis that is facing them and the tact Albertans, have exhibited while living under what he calls the "least restrictive public health orders in Canada."

Kenney also highlighted Alberta's low rate of hospitalizations which he notes had initially peaked in April and has seen a downward trend during the past couple of months.

"I implore Albertans to remain vigilant and disciplined we saw large crowds gathering this weekend and Sylvan Lake with the nice weather and people very close together.  I've seen that myself in parks and crowded areas including grocery stores and people not wearing masks and that kind of conduct, unfortunately, could jeopardize the progress that we have made, we are not done with COVID but we are learning how to live with it."

He says many Canadians have family and other loved ones in the U.S., and the economies of both countries are largely dependent on trade. "I urge our American cousins to look north and learn from our successes."

"We need only look south of the border to see how bad things could be. Thankfully, New York and some other states that were hard hit early on have managed to turn the corner on infections, hospitalizations, and fatalities, but the virus has taken off in many other states, and the overall American numbers are amongst the worst in the world, certainly much much higher than Alberta's. Yesterday, (Sunday) Florida reported over 15,000 new cases in a single day, and many states like Arizona, Flordia, Mississippi are facing a potential shortage of ICU beds in the days ahead."

Kenney also discussed the controversial subject among many Albertas regarding the wearing of masks mandatory in public.

"I've been asked many times if Alberta will make masks mandatory. To quote Dr. Hinshaw, 'we can't enforce our way out of the pandemic,' and the vast majority of Albertans, I don't think need to be told to do the right thing.  We all know by now that it is our civic duty to reduce our risk of exposure and transmission as much as possible and that means wearing a mask in crowded indoor public spaces where physical distancing is not possible"

As far as a possible second wave of COVID-19, Kenney says Alberta is already prepared, with an expanded capacity of beds and a thorough outbreak response system.