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Banff extends mandatory mask bylaw

“I would like to think that if people are in a crowded situation, they know enough to pop their mask back on," said Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen
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Tourists walk along Banff Avenue wearing face masks. EVAN BUHLER RMO PHOTO⁠

BANFF – Masks continue to be mandatory outdoors in much of Banff’s downtown core heading into fall.

The Town of Banff's temporary mask bylaw will continue to apply inside all publicly accessible buildings, as well as on sidewalks in the 100 and 200 blocks of Banff Avenue, the 200 block of Bear Street and sections of Wolf and Caribou streets.

There wasn’t an overall appetite by mayor and council to extend the mandatory mask bylaw at this point to other busy areas in town given there continues to be no active COVID-19 cases in Banff.

“As visitation declines – I think we are in for quite a decline in visitation – I’m less concerned about some of the other areas,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen during a council meeting Monday (Sept. 21).

“I would like to think that if people are in a crowded situation, they know enough to pop their mask back on… and I certainly continue to support wearing masks everywhere indoors.”

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic related to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Presently, the number of COVID cases in Alberta is rising. As of Sept. 30, there were 1,571 active cases, with 63 people in hospital due to COVID-19, 13 of whom are in intensive care.

Current evidence indicates that physical distancing by maintaining a distance of two metres or more, proper hand hygiene, and coughing and sneezing etiquette are the most effective strategies for decreasing the transmission of COVID-19 in a community.

However, increasing evidence indicates that wearing a mask is also an important added measure in reducing COVID-19 transmission.

“There is an increasing body of evidence, gained during the pandemic, supporting mask use,” said Town Manager Kelly Gibson in his report to council on the mask bylaw.

“Even a small amount of reduced transmission of COVID-19 for individual encounters from the source person wearing a mask can significantly decrease the burden of infection at the population level.”

Town of Banff officials say outdoor mask use wasn’t as good last weekend as it was when there were COVID safety ambassadors on the 100 and 200 block of Banff Avenue spreading the word about the bylaw and handing out masks.

“Anecdotally, I would suggest Banff Avenue sidewalks were quite busy, at times people having difficulty keeping social distance,” said Silvio Adamo, the Town’s director of emergency management. “I saw mask compliance –  I am going to estimate – somewhere around 70 to 80 per cent.”

Gibson said there were complaints made to the Bear Street ambassadors last weekend about people not wearing masks.

“We can have Bylaw out on the weekends just to reconfirm,” he said.

Councillor Chip Olver said she is comfortable for now with the outdoor mask bylaw continuing to apply only to the 100 and 200 blocks of Banff Avenue, the 200 block of Bear Street and sections of Wolf and Caribou streets.

“With the current conditions and zero number of active cases, I am comfortable with the zone that we’re including,” she said.

“I hope it is becoming common place for people to have masks in their pocket and to put it on if you can’t maintain that distance.”

That said, if COVID-19 numbers increase, Coun. Olver said she wants a way for the municipality to be able to respond quickly to increase the geographic footprint for the outdoor mask bylaw.

Other than holding a special meeting of council, she suggested possible delegation of authority to a senior Town of Banff official such as the director of emergency management. Administration will look at options before the next council meeting.

Coun. Olver said she also went over other possible locations for extending the outdoor mask bylaw, such as the vehicle and pedestrian bridges across the Bow River and riverside trails.

Given the challenge in coming up with clear, concise wording for the outdoor mask bylaw, she said one option could be to make it town-wide.

“These are all things I can see possibly coming back to us depending on what happens with numbers locally, regionally and provincially,” she said.

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