Nenshi dampens expectations as province begins to lift restrictions
Mayor says much will depend on level of safety measures in place
Mayor Naheed Nenshi warned Calgarians on Friday not to get too excited about the possibility of a broader reopening in two weeks.
The Alberta government announced this week that some businesses — from restaurants to retailers to hairdressers — can open their doors as early as May 14. But that date could be pushed back if health measures like more comprehensive testing and contact tracing procedures aren’t in place.
“Those things, I must tell you, are not yet in place,” Nenshi said.
“Don’t circle May 14 on your calendar as ‘normal day.’ That is not really what’s going to happen.”
The Calgary area is Alberta’s hot spot for COVID -19 cases. While a significant number of cases have recently emerged from an outbreak at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Calgary has outpaced the rest of the province for the novel coronavirus. Nearly 70 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Alberta are currently in the Calgary zone, and there are outbreaks at 31 Calgary-area long-term care and supportive living sites.
In every other AHS health zone in the province, the province has reported at most two of those kinds of facilities with outbreaks.
Calgary is also the only place in Alberta where homeless shelters have confirmed COVID-19 cases. Alpha House became the third site to report infections on Friday.
Sue Henry, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, emphasized that people need to continue to wash their hands frequently, stay at least two metres away from others while they’re in public and wear a face-covering in spaces where physical distancing is impossible.
Nenshi said people should continue to stay home as much as possible and remember that the 15-person limit on any gatherings still applies.
Regardless of how restrictions change in the coming weeks, the mayor said business owners should do what they feel is right to keep employees and customers safe. For some, that might be putting off opening their doors for longer, even when the current restrictions lift.
“I’ve never heard from a single business owner who tells me, ‘I want to reopen and damn the consequences,’” he said.
The mayor said it’s unlikely the city will impose harsher restrictions preventing Calgary businesses from opening even if the province gives the go-ahead.
The city is still waiting for the province to give more guidance on rules different types of businesses will have to follow when they’re allowed to reopen, and bylaw officers, police and AHS will be monitoring to make sure employees and customers are safe.
THE CITY’S ROAD AHEAD
Weekly green cart collection will be back the week of May 19. The city normally would have brought it back in April, but it had to delay because of a shortage of workers.
The city won’t be opening its own golf courses this weekend, despite the province allowing it. Nenshi said the greens aren’t ready given the changes necessary to make sure they’re safe for golfers. The city also has to make its own policy decision about whether it’s feasible to run golf courses right now.
Private golf course operators in Calgary can make their own decisions about opening for business.
City-run summer camps are also up in the air, but Nenshi said a few might be able to go ahead while observing the 15-person limit and two-metre distancing rules.
Playgrounds are still closed and team sports are banned on any fields or courts in the city, unless players are all members of the same household. But the following activities can be exceptions if play is modified to make sure players don’t handle the same ball and can stay two metres away from each other: disc golf; singles tennis; singles badminton; singles pickleball; kayaking; river surfing ’ Skate parks, on the other hand, are being reopened — but no more than 15 people can be in the same location, and everyone needs to keep two metres away from each other.