(Nick Fewings)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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City monitoring rising COVID-19 cases while preaching Halloween safety

Oct 31, 2020 | 11:20 AM

The mayor of Red Deer is wishing everyone a safe and fun Halloween weekend, while encouraging everyone to do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On Friday, Red Deer rose to 46 active cases of the virus from 38 on Thursday. Once the city reaches 50 it would be under provincial COVID-19 Watch status.

“Our city has generally had low case numbers, and I am proud of Red Deerians’ continued commitment to upholding provincial public health guidelines. This commitment has served us well in minimizing spread and keeping each other safe through the many difficult months we have faced together,” Mayor Tara Veer said in a statement. “As active cases fluctuate in our community, council and administration are closely monitoring the situation and are continually responding to public health guidelines to determine what additional steps may need to be taken.”

Veer adds that we are all responding to the pandemic differently, and that respect is key.

“May we all continue to be kind to each other, regardless of differing opinions and perspectives, as we all work together to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of our community and our loved ones during this unprecedented time,.”

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In August, city council approved mandatory face coverings on transit, but tabled further bylaw changes to make them required in all public settings. Administration originally proposed making face coverings in public places mandatory once the city hit 25 active cases, but council never approved that.

The formal resolution read: Resolved that Council of The City of Red Deer hereby agrees to table Bylaw 3653/2020 up to December 31, 2020 pending direction from Alberta Health Services with concerns about the number of active COVID-19 cases in the city of Red Deer.

“The City does work closely with Alberta Health Services and and if we were to receive advice or guidance that prompted this conversation to be reopened, that would be at the call of council,” says Karen Mann, Emergency Management Coordinator. “The decision as to whether council debates this again will be made based on advice from the chief medical officer of health or AHS.”

Mann adds that to the City’s knowledge, no other municipality to be put on the watch list has received any type of order from the province to mandate masking in public places.

“They continue to leave the decision about mandating masking to municipalities and local authorities.”

If council wished, they could add the mandatory face coverings bylaw to an already scheduled meeting, or agree to hold a special meeting to deal with it sooner.

New COVID-19 figures are not anticipated until Tuesday. On Friday, the province recorded a record daily high of 622 new cases.

RELATED: Red Deer nearing ‘watch’ status as Alberta adds record number of COVID-19 cases