Wednesday, November 25, 2020 Vol. 43, No. 48
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YOUR LOCAL PAPER
NEW COVID RESTRICTIONS ANNOUNCED BY PROVINCE LATE TUESDAY •Strong new restrictions on indoor and outdoor social gatherings, dining, Grades 7-12 move to online, events in jeopardy • Further restrictions for provincial regions listed under enhanced (purple) status • Beaver County, MD of Wainwright not under enhanced as of Tuesday, Flagstaff County now purple with 15 active cases Patricia Harcourt Editor
While the area around Viking called Viking (Beaver County East) still has only one case of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the other half of the county isn’t faring as well. Tofield (Beaver County West) now has seven active cases with an outbreak at Tofield School. The M.D. of Wainwright has five active cases with two deaths reported. There are no cases at the Viking School at this time, officials have confirmed. And Flagstaff County’s total rose to 15 in fairly dramatic fashion as there were only five reported on Sunday, and is now in the enhanced status phase for rapid increases in cases. Premier Jason Kenney and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced greater restrictions late Tuesday afternoon that are considered vital in bringing down the number of cases spiralling out of control, especially in the Edmonton and Calgary enhanced zones. Kenney declared a provincial State of Public Health Emergency and placed restrictions on social gatherings across the province. The province-wide social gathering restrictions apply to the local Viking (Beaver County East) area, as do the new rules for on-line learning for older students. Kenney called social gatherings the “biggest problem” in the spread
of the virus and “the key reason COVID-19 is winning.” There will be no indoor social gatherings allowed of any kind, and a maximum of 10 person limit for outdoor gatherings. Weddings and funerals also will only be allowed 10 person gatherings, and receptions will not be allowed at all. As for the school system, he said teenagers are more likely transmitters of the virus than younger ones. There have been rising community transmissions that have been affecting the schools throughout the province, including a school in Forestburg in Flagstaff County and Tofield School in Beaver County, as well as some schools in surrounding jurisdictions. Province-wide, including Viking School, all students from Grade 7 to 12 will start in-home learning on Nov. 30, and return to in-person learning Jan. 11. The idea is to give these older students a break from exposure to the virus at school, and after the holidays a week to determine if they are healthy and able to return virus free. The younger students will be allowed to attend school (Grade 1-6), and early childhood services will also remain open so parents can continue to go to work until Dec. 18. They, too, would return to school on Jan. 11. Peace Officers will be allowed to deliver fines, he said. An emergency alert is going out to everyone telling
them of these developments. Other rules were specified for regions that are under enhanced status. Effective immediately for these regions restrictions were put in place for places of worship, businesses, and services and are in place until further notice. Kenney said restrictions for gatherings in places of worship “are no longer guidelines and will no longer be optional,” and attendees will be limited to one-third of normal attendance. Masks will be required to be worn and physical distancing between households As of Nov. 27, business and service restrictions in enhanced areas will be categorized into ‘closed for in-person business,’ ‘open with restrictions’ and ‘open by appointment only,’ with these measures in place for three weeks. As part of this, banquet halls, conference rooms, and concert venues will be closed. Retail businesses can remain open but are restricted to 25 per cent occupancy. Indoor workplaces in Edmonton, Calgary, and surrounding areas must have persons wearing masks until further notice. “All workers who can work from home should do so,” Kenney urged, noting that workplaces are major transmitters of the virus. “This is not a crushing lockdown,” said Kenney, owning that every measure put in place affects many people. He encouraged Albertans to shop
local, and support local businesses whenever possible. He also said there was no political motivation in doing this. “We’re taking measures now so we have a chance before Christmas,” then measure the results. If this doesn’t work, he said that “greater sacrifices will have to be made later in December.” The reason for the action taken is because active cases of COVID-19 have reached 13,349 people with 348 in hospital and 66 in intensive care. The total number of deaths from the virus are 492. On Nov. 20, 1,155 new cases were identified, followed by another 1,549 cases three days later on Nov. 23. “The growth rate of COVID-19 cases is alarming,” said Hinshaw. “Even with the new measures, because of the lag time between announcing and impact, additional health measures such as cancelling urgent surgeries may be needed temporarily to ensure hospitals can cope with COVID-related illness. “All Albertans must take additional measures very seriously; this virus is highly contagious. Only by working together can we protect each other, reduce the spread and protect our health system,” she said. It is unclear at press time in what ways the new measures will affect local businesses and events currently being planned. Look for further updates in the next edition of the Weekly Review.