City awaits provincial orders on COVID
Albertans and Hatters can expect “an eventful week” according to city officials regarding health restrictions to battle the coronavirus, while warning against expecting widely relaxed rules.
City director of emergency management Merrick Brown told council in an update on Monday that figures of new cases across Alberta and the region are pointing downward, which could mean looser restrictions when they are re-evaluated later this week.
“We’re hopeful or excited that restrictions will be lifted, but we have to expect some restriction will stay in place,” he said.
“It’s OK. We’ve been through this before and we can handle a little bit more.”
Some personal services were allowed to reopen for appointments on Monday and, as well, outdoor gathering of up to 10 people were allowed, loosening rules laid down in early December to arrest a sharp spike in cases.
Active cases across the province had fallen below 12,000 on Monday, down from a high-point of 21,000.
The high point for new cases each day was about 1,800 in early January. New diagnoses on Monday were below 800, continuing a downward trend.
That’s “positive” said Brown, also noting that local active cases that reached 125, were now 35. That translates to a per 100,000 case rate of about 50 — the point in the fall where provincial health officials set as a tripping point to consider stricter measures.
It should be noted that cases in Alberta Health Service’s
South zone as a whole had ticked up over the past couple weeks due in large part to high numbers in the city of Lethbridge and Cardston County. As of Tuesday, those two areas accounted for 246 of the South’s 407 active cases, and most communities have decreased since the weekend.
Brown was further encouraged by the timing of the decline, coming in the weeks following the Christmas holidays.
“Over the last two weeks we saw it level off (in Medicine Hat), but now we’re dropping again,” he said. “The restrictions brought us down.”
The initial surge began after Thanksgiving weekend when it is supposed that family gatherings and get togethers over the long weekend led to a greater spread.
There was fear that a similar effect could take place following the Christmas holidays, prompting provincial health officials to ban all indoor social gatherings along with a steep decrease in business capacity and the complete closure of in-restaurant dining and bars.
Brown also said administrators will begin a review of how its early pandemic response action performed.
That included continuity plans for utility, emergency and other workers, as well as closing and re-opening facilities as health restrictions changed.
He called the “mid-event after report” a way to evaluate and augment measures, improving them as the pandemic continues.
“This could be with us for another six, eight months,” he said. “Not that full restrictions will be in place, but the virus will still be here.”