For this weeks campus update we touch on the continued plans to bring staff and students back full time in person despite the recent rise of variant risks. While alberta does still remain under the provincial work from home order the university still plans on issuing the 30 day notice to staff when that order is lifted. When that could happen is another guess as the omicron variant as of December 19th had totaled over 400 new cases in the past week.

In other news the alberta government announced Friday that while no plans exist to limit people there will be a new shipment of the rapid antigen test kits to pharmacys following last weeks fast rollout and even faster sell out of test kits. With complaints coming from pharmacies as they weren't able to meet the demand, with them targeting the current protocols which stipulate that if people have their family members healthcare numbers they are entitled to retrieving as many as they need.

For more information you can visit ualberta.ca/covidupdate or from the campus news team happy holidays and please practice safety this holiday season. For cjsr this is Jarret Kamm