BANFF – The Town of Banff has rescinded its state of local emergency as COVID-19 case counts continue to drop.
As of Tuesday (Jan. 19), there were 10 positive cases in Banff and Lake Louise, down from a high of 191 at the end of November. There were eight positive cases in neighbouring Canmore.
Town of Banff officials say the state of local emergency was rescinded on Friday (Jan. 15) at 5 p.m. because the declaration’s objectives had been met and conditions had changed since it was implemented on Nov. 25.
Mayor Karen Sorensen thanked residents for following the requirements needed to help stop the spread of the virus.
“I’m so relieved and honestly just so proud of this community,” she said.
“We were very blessed for so many months not to have a significant number of cases – and maybe people were thinking it’s not going to happen in Banff – but when we spiked the entire community said this is serious and we need to do the right thing.”
Mayor Sorensen said council has and will continue to pay a lot of attention to the seriousness of COVID-19.
“I already knew getting a spike in Banff was probable and I think we’ve been as proactive as we possibly can be on this,” she said.
“But with the situation in November and early December, the community did everything we could.”
Following on the messages from Alberta Health, Mayor Sorensen warned Banff is not out of the woods yet.
“The pandemic is not over and anything can happen at this point moving forward,” she said.
“The Town of Banff, our tourism partners and Parks Canada are still on high alert, and are spending time discussing what the next eight to 12 months will look like from a business perspective and for safety measures.”
A state of local emergency gives a municipality extraordinary powers during a crisis.
While Banff did not end up exercising any of those powers, the emergency declaration helped bring attention to the province of Alberta of Banff’s plight, including ongoing calls for a provincial health testing site.
The municipality’s mandatory mask bylaw and restrictions on liquor and cannabis store hours of operation, which are still in effect, were already within the Town’s of Banff’s jurisdiction to implement.
Mayor Sorensen said the state of local emergency also helped visitors understand what was happening in Banff.
“From a communications perspective, whatever visitors were coming were also being seriously cautioned we’re in state of local emergency, we are in high count, and if you do come, follow the rules,” she said.
As of Tuesday, there were 11,096 COVID-19 cases in Alberta, which included 456 new cases identified over the previous 24 hours.
There are currently 740 people in hospital, including 119 who have been admitted to intensive care units.
Another 17 new deaths were reported to Alberta Health in the previous 24 hours, bringing the province-wide death toll from COVID-19 to 1,463.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said while it is encouraging to see the numbers going down, it is important to keep in mind that the average annual recorded death toll from influenza has been 58 deaths per year over the past decade.
She said having more people die of COVID-19, which amounts to almost 20 per cent of an average full year of influenza data, should not be taken lightly.
“The lives lost to COVID-19 are a painful reminder to us all of the seriousness of the virus and the need to protect ourselves and each other from it,” Hinshaw said.
While the decline in active case counts, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and transmission rate is a testament to the sacrifices of many, Hinshaw said provincial COVID-19 numbers are still far higher than they were just three months ago.
She said the active case count was just over 3,000 on Oct. 18 compared to almost 12,000 on Jan. 18; and there 120 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Oct. 18 and more than six times that on Jan. 18.
“All of this means we are making progress, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Hinshaw said.
Visit the Town of Banff's website for case counts and current restrictions.
