Alberta's Health Minister Tyler Shandro has announced that the province is loosening public health restrictions that have been in place, allowing up to ten people for outdoor social gatherings, personal and wellness services to open once again, and up to 20 people to be in attendance at funerals in the province.  

The changes go into effect on Monday, January 18th, and come as a relief to owners of hair salons, barbershops, esthetic businesses, manicure and pedicure establishments, and piercing and tattoo shops who had to close their doors during the current restrictions.  

Shandro said today that indoor gatherings remain prohibited.  He also said that personal and wellness services are being allowed to open by appointment only and funeral receptions are still not allowed.  "Today we can't entirely ease up on this goal, but we can make small adjustments to provide Albertans with some limited activities,"

All Alberta businesses, organizations, and service providers must continue to follow all other existing health measures.  

"We made these decisions very carefully and these measures were eased based on the expertise and the advice of our Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hinshaw," Shandro said.  "We want to stop as a province going back and forth with tightening and then loosening the rules."

Shandro said provincial and regional trends will continue to be monitored and assessed over the coming weeks to determine if further easing of restrictions may be considered.

You can see a list of the changes made to the health measures as well as the others that remain in effect HERE.