RED DEER COUNTY - The number of active COVID-19 cases in the county and some urban centres geographically located within its boundaries has reached a high enough level that additional mandatory restrictions are now in place.
As of yesterday afternoon (Nov. 21), the county -- along with Innisfail, Bowden, Penhold, Spruce View, Markerville and Springbrook -- is under enhanced relaunch status. Sylvan Lake and Red Deer had already been placed on enhanced relaunch status.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the area has grown to 25, pushing the active case rate to 75.7 per 100,000 population.
Regions with at least 10 active cases and a rate of over 50 active cases per 100,000 population are considered above threshold and risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread, according to provincial officials.
The following mandatory measures are now in place in Red Deer County, Innisfail, Bowden, Penhold, Spruce View, Markerville and Springbrook:
• Restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs with class A, B or C licences must stop liquor sales by 10 p.m. and close by 11p.m. This measure is in place until Nov. 27.
• There is a 15-person limit on social and family gatherings - indoors and outdoors - where people are mixing and mingling including wedding or funeral receptions, induction or award ceremonies, luncheons or potlucks, birthday and retirement parties and baby showers.
• There is a 50-person limit on indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies and funeral services.
Provincial officials are also encouraging people in enhanced status areas to undertake the following voluntary measures:
• No social gatherings inside your home or outside of your community.
• Limit cohorts to three: your core household, your school, and one other sport or social cohort.
• Mask use is encouraged in all indoor workplaces except when alone in a workspace or an appropriate barrier is in place.
• Employers are strongly encouraged to implement options such as rotating schedules or enabling staff to work remotely to reduce the number of employees in a workplace at a time.
• Faith-based gatherings be limited to a third of capacity.
Meanwhile, cases in Mountain View County as well as the urban centres of Cremona, Carstairs, Didsbury and Sundre, have dropped below the province’s threshold for enhanced measures.
With 11 active cases listed yesterday and a rate of active cases per 100,000 population of 48, those areas are now considered in open status, requiring no further mandatory restrictions. The area had been under enhanced status restrictions since Nov. 10.
Olds was also listed yesterday as being under enhanced relaunch status.
