Wood Buffalo Mayor Don Scott, from a February news conference (Courtesy: RM of Wood Buffalo news conference)

By Canadian Press

Over 1,000 active cases

Wood Buffalo to declare local state of emergency over high COVID-19 case count

Apr 26, 2021 | 10:29 AM

Council for the municipality that includes Fort McMurray has voted to declare a state of local emergency to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council held a special meeting on Sunday to discuss concerns about the novel coronavirus. Officials say a state of emergency will support future council actions that could include enhanced measures to deal with local challenges and risks from COVID-19.

Several other motions were passed Sunday by council, including a request for the provincial and federal governments to speed up vaccine distribution in the area and for an emergency meeting with both levels of government.

Mayor Don Scott says he has spoken with Premier Jason Kenney to find ways to fight the COVID-19 crisis in his community.

Scott says he’s hoping for solutions, including vaccine availability, to address a pandemic that is putting hospitals under pressure, including the hospital there having to expand intensive-care-bed capacity.

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Scott says Fort McMurray has many young workers and families, and he says one of the problems is that too few residents are qualifying for a vaccination.

Meantime, Kenney said Monday his government is working with the region to address the sharp rise in cases, adding that he feels a key problem is that there is a lower uptake on existing vaccines in the area.

He says it could be the vaccines aren’t convenient enough or there is vaccine hesitancy.

As of the end of day April 25, there were 1,064 active cases of COVID-19 in Fort McMurray.

(The Canadian Press)