Alberta acute care facilities can now impose stricter masking requirements at their discretion

Alberta Health Services has imposed an “enhanced masking directive” to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 within acute care facilities.  

Introduced on Wednesday, the directive allows health zone leaders to require enhanced masking by all AHS staff, physicians, midwives, students, volunteers, and others. 

Alberta acute care facilities can choose to implement the directive or not, based on their risk assessment.

When implemented, masking will be required for patients, designated support persons, and visitors in Emergency Departments. Sites can also require people to mask in additional areas, such as cancer units. 

Signage will be posted where masking is required.

Masking will be optional, even when the directive is implemented, for visitors and designated family support persons outside of Emergency Departments. 

Despite these clear regulations, the directive states that AHS leadership “may implement masking requirements beyond this Directive if identified in their risk assessment.”

The masking directive does not include people who are under two years old, in their bed space, or those who are unable to place, use, or remove a mask without assistance. 

AHS leadership will perform a risk assessment to determine whether or not to implement the masking directive. The assessment evaluates the following, in order of importance: rate of hospitalizations in people with COVID-19; outbreak number, size, and impact; percentage of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients; test positivity; and situational context.  

Alberta acute care facilities, such as hospitals, treatment centres, and long-term care facilities previously removed continuous masking in June 2023.

As of Tuesday October 10th, there are 17 acute care facilities with at least one unit experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, for a total of 35 units with outbreaks. 

The hospital with the most units containing COVID-19 outbreaks is The Royal Alexandra Hospital, with 12 units that have COVID-19 outbreaks. The second highest hospital is a multi-way tie with hospitals containing 3 units each with outbreaks.