COVID-19: Calgary lifts state of local emergency, ‘allowing us to keep in step with the province’

The City of Calgary is lifting its pandemic-related state of local emergency (SOLE) effective Monday.

“After 15 months of experiencing the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m pleased to say that today we are now in a place where we are able to lift our state of local emergency,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Monday afternoon.

On Monday, the Alberta government reported 123 people were in hospital with COVID-19 in the Calgary zone, 32 of them in intensive care. The government said there are currently 1,283 active COVID-19 cases in the Calgary zone.

Sue Henry, chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), said the increasing numbers of Calgarians getting their first and second doses of a vaccine, along with decreases in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, led to the decision to lift the SOLE.

“Calgarians have done an incredible job adhering to the public health measures and responding to the call to get vaccinated, allowing us to keep in step with the province’s Open for Summer plan,” Henry said, adding there is a need for cautious optimism as reopening continues.

The latest state of local emergency went into effect on Nov. 25, 2020. A previous pandemic-related SOLE ran from March 15 to June 12, 2020.

The CEMA chief said adaptive roadways — converting parts of roads for more pedestrian distancing — will continue, along with enforcing health orders and related bylaws. CEMA will also continue to monitor pandemic-related numbers and advise business units.

“We will continue with the activation of the municipal emergency plan for the foreseeable future, to ensure that all city services and partners are working in lockstep with one another as we strive towards the summer reopening,” Henry said. “This will allow us to continue to co-ordinate crisis communications and set common priorities and objectives across the agency.”

4:23 Tourism Calgary recommends staycations for summer 2021

The mayor said rescinding the SOLE won’t have a material effect on most Calgarians.

“It is really helpful for us to be able to move to the next stage in our emergency management plan,” Nenshi said. “But for citizens, I will encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing: wash your hands, keep your distance, wear your mask, get your shot — and soon, we will be able to open up just a little bit more.”

Nenshi said there is still a risk of a fourth wave in the fall and noted the U.K. has had to delay its reopening plan because of the Delta variant and its ability to evade protections afforded by vaccination.

Noting an outbreak of the Delta variant at the Foothills Medical Centre that is being “managed,” Nenshi repeated his previous comment that city council will be discussing what to do with the indoor mask bylaw at Monday’s council meeting.

“Right now, my sense is that we should probably use a second dose-based trigger for when we remove the mask bylaw.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Right now, my sense is that we should probably use a second dose-based trigger for when we remove the mask bylaw."

The mayor credited chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw for her work providing public health recommendations for all of Alberta that the provincial COVID-19 cabinet committee decides on.

“We all respect her great work on that,” he said. “And we here at the City of Calgary have to make a decision for Calgary based on the very local issues here, based on the outbreaks here, based on the variants here, based on the neighbourhoods here. And so, we will make that decision.

“But ultimately, we’re probably talking about a difference of a few weeks at most.”

Questions still remain on whether mandatory masking may stay in place on Calgary Transit vehicles.

“If you’d asked me a week or two ago, I would have said we probably need to keep it in place longer on transit,” Nenshi said. “Depending on when we lift the mask mandate, that might not be necessary.”

With lower ridership in the summer months and the ease with which cars can be added to trains to assist with physical distancing, the mayor said mask use on transit will be part of Monday’s council deliberations.