Authorities responding to COVID-19 increase
By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing across the province, new mandatory health measures have been implemented to help stop the spread of the virus.
As of Nov. 16, there are 10,031 active cases of COVID-19 across the province, reported Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer.
Both Strathmore and Wheatland County have been classified as having “enhanced” status, meaning these jurisdictions have a rate of active cases such that some additional public health measures are required to control the spread of the virus.
For any jurisdiction with enhanced status, bars, lounges and pubs must stop liquor sales by 10 p.m. and close by 11 p.m, from Nov. 13 to 27.
There is an ongoing 15-person limit on family and social gatherings. Also, there is a 50-person limit on wedding ceremonies and funeral services. The province is also recommending that no social gatherings occur in private homes.
The province is recommending that faith-based organizations should limit attendance to one-third capacity.
Employers are being recommended to reduce the number of staff in office buildings at any one time and mask use is being encouraged in all indoor workplaces.
Within certain parts of the province, but not in Strathmore and Wheatland County, a two-week ban on group fitness, team sport activities and group performance activities (e.g. singing, dancing, other performances) will be active from Nov. 13 to 27.
More restrictive measures are being threatened by the province if these measures are not successful.
Strathmore town council to discuss mask bylaw
Strathmore May Pat Fule said during a Nov. 16 Facebook Live address that town council would be discussing its mask during its meeting on Nov. 18. The bylaw already passed first reading but needs to pass two additional readings to be enacted.
“The recent increases in Strathmore highlight the need for this discussion, and we’ve also seen that we are surrounded by a lot of areas where the numbers of cases have really gone up,” said Fule.
A group of local physicians has submitted a letter for council to adopt the bylaw, he added.
Contact tracing
The province has changed its approach to COVID-19 contact tracing.
Contact tracing refers to determining and contacting people who have been in close contact with others who have tested positive for COVID-19, so they can self-isolate and get tested, to limit the spread of the virus.
Previously, the province was performing contact tracing on anyone who received a positive test. But as of Nov. 6, Alberta Health Service (AHS) is only notifying the close contacts of people in three priority groups who have tested positive, including health care workers, minors (parents notified if their child was exposed in school settings), and people working or living within congregate or communal facilities.
That means AHS will not be directly notifying individual close contacts of positive cases outside these groups. But on Nov. 12, AHS launched an online portal to enable the automated notification of close contacts of COVID-19 cases by text message. Albertans who have tested positive are being instructed to visit www.ahs.ca/closecontacts and enter the information of close contacts to use this service.
Close contacts are defined as anyone who, within two days prior to getting sick or receiving a positive test, came within two metres of the affected individual for more than 15 minutes, even if they were wearing a mask, or who came into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
AHS will still contact positive cases to notify them of the result, help identify “priority contacts” and provide guidance on contact notification.
This new approach is being undertaken to improve efficiency and focus on groups with the highest risk of illness and spread, according to the province. AHS is prioritizing the hiring of additional contact tracing staff that will expand the contact tracing team to more than 1,100 people.
Each COVID-19 case has on average 15 close contacts within the infectious period, said Hinshaw. “That means with about 1,000 new cases a day, there are about 15,000 people every day who are new close contacts,” she said. “It is impossible to make phone calls to each one, which is why AHS has changed their processes and is using technology like the online portal to speed up this work.”