Photo: Government of Alberta

By Shaun Penner

As COVID cases climb

New public health measures announced for City of Grande Prairie

Nov 12, 2020 | 3:48 PM

UPDATE: Alberta Health has moved the restrictions on faith-based gatherings to be held to 1/3 capacity at one time to a voluntary measure. It is not a mandatory measure, as previously stated.

New public health measures have been brought in for the City of Grande Prairie by the provincial government, as cases of COVID-19 continue to climb across Alberta.

Premier Jason Kenney announced new targeted measures for all municipalities listed under an “enhanced” COVID-19 status, also known as “Purple Zone Areas”. Additional measures have been implemented for the City of Grande Prairie, as well as Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Red Deer, and the Edmonton and Calgary Zones also fall under the new measures.

Those new measures for the City of Grande Prairie, most of which will be in place for two weeks, starting Friday, include:

Community-specific mandatory measures

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

• Ban on indoor group fitness classes and team sport activities (Nov 13-27).
• Ban on group performance activities: singing, dancing and theatre (Nov 13-27).

Mandatory measures

• Restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs must stop liquor sales by 10pm and close by 11pm – applies to Class A, B or C licences (Nov 13-27).
• 15-person limit on social and family gatherings – indoors and outdoors – where people are mixing and mingling.
• 50-person limit on indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies and funeral services.

Voluntary measures

• No social gatherings inside your home or outside of your community. Instead, socialize outdoors or in structured settings, like restaurants or other business that are subject to legal limits and take steps to prevent transmission.
• Limit of 3 cohorts: your core household, your school, and one other sport or social cohort. Young children who attend child care can be part of 4 cohorts.
• Wear a mask in all indoor work settings, except when alone in a workspace or an appropriate barrier is in place.
• Employers in office settings should implement measures to reduce the number of employees in the workplace at one time.
• Faith-based gatherings limited to 1/3 capacity at one time.

The mandatory and voluntary measures listed above also apply to the County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview, as well the Fairview and Peace River areas, though the ban on team sports and group performance activities is not in place.

The City of Grande Prairie added 16 new cases over the last two days, though recoveries have dropped the city’s active case total to 88 as of the end of day Wednesday.

A death linked to COVID-19 has been reported in the County of Grande Prairie, the first reported in the area since the onset of the pandemic.

Another record number of hospitalizations have been announced in Alberta, as there are now 225 people in hospital, 51 of whom are in an ICU.

“It’s almost certain we have not seen the peak of the current increase,” said Kenney. “We have to bend the curve back down, to support our health-care system, to protect vulnerable Albertans, to keep schools open, and to avoid further damage to people’s livelihoods and the economy, at a time of great adversity.”

Kenney said 40 per cent of the spread of COVID-19 can be traced to transmission at home and at social gatherings.

He added that respecting these new measures can help turn the numbers around and therefore protect the health-care system without impairing businesses or jobs.

“This must be taken seriously. We are putting our faith in the good judgment of Albertans which is why these measures are voluntary right now,” Kenney stressed. “The alternative to voluntary action by Albertans is mandatory restrictions like in most other places backed by fines.”