2018 rdnewsNOW file photo of Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer

By Troy Gillard

Active cases triple in February

Reopening in Red Deer may not ease if COVID cases remain high, Veer cautions

Feb 23, 2021 | 8:05 PM

City officials are cautioning Red Deerians that if COVID-19 cases remain as high as they are there we may not reopen from public health restrictions as quickly as the rest of the province.

Red Deer has 559 active cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, down slightly from Monday’s record total of 565. Nearly 75 per cent of the 745 active cases in the Central Zone are in Red Deer.

While numbers across much of the province have trended downward in recent weeks, Red Deer has seen its active case count triple in less than a month.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Tara Veer again urged Red Deerians to remain vigilant and do their part to curb spread of the virus.

“If Red Deer’s numbers remain high, we may not be included in the next phase of reopening outlined by the Province of Alberta and remain under tighter restrictions than the rest of the Alberta. It is up to all of us to ensure this doesn’t happen,” said Veer.

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City officials say the outbreak at Olymel, which has 190 active cases as of Tuesday, is a major contributor, but not the only contributor to Red Deer’s high case count. Community spread and other local outbreaks – including at Red Deer Remand Centre, several acute care and continuing care centres, multiple units within Red Deer Regional Hospital as well as several school-related cases – are also factors, they note.

“The City is assisting Olymel, Alberta Health, AHS and our community agency partners to co-ordinate supports for the over 1,800 workers, and their families. This includes helping them arrange safe housing if they can’t isolate at home, connecting them to community support groups and offering information in a variety of languages,” said Emergency Operations Centre Director, Karen Mann. “This outbreak does not represent all our case numbers, and the numbers related to this outbreak have begun to flatten. This is a reminder that COVID-19 is still a real risk to our community and something we can’t take lightly.”

Veer notes that The City of Red Deer is not involved in decisions concerning business closures, instead relying on AHS to help make those calls.

“We understand COVID-19 restrictions can be difficult and this is a stressful time for many. Many Albertans and Red Deerians are experiencing COVID fatigue. We’ve been in the pandemic for nearly a year now, but we all need to work together to follow public health guidelines to protect capacity at our local hospital and to ensure we are on track for safe re-start of our local economy,” said Veer.

City officials say the province has not requested additional measures for Red Deer at this time. The City of Red Deer will continue to provide updates on its ongoing discussions with Alberta Health.