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A group of Albertans worried about the economy is planning to protest outside the legislature next week in an attempt to speed up the rate the province will lift current public health orders surrounding COVID-19.

Michael Banner, one of the organizers for End the Lockdown Alberta, says he wants the government to take a “risk-based approach” to lifting public health orders.

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“We’re in for a really hard time here in Alberta coming up and it’s a matter of looking at the numbers, looking at the statistics and taking a risk-based approach and saying are we doing more harm than good for the province,” said Banner, who lives in Calgary.

A risk-analysis consultant by trade, Banner said he has done his own projections, outside of the models that the province released. He argues his numbers show a lower curve than what the province has released.

The latest model based on the most up-to-date data released by Premier Jason Kenney last month showed between 800,000 and 1.6 million people could be infected with COVID-19 depending on how closely the public follows public health protocols. The model shows more than 800 people may need to be hospitalized at the outbreak’s peak.