Damien Traverse
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From: Damien Traverse <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2020 10:10 PM To: Damien Traverse <[email protected]> Subject: Municipal Update Q&A ‐ December 22, 2020 As promised, here is the Q&A from our Municipal Update call on December 22nd, 2020. Additionally, attached are the most recent orders. Of note, Order 44 helps clarify intent regarding outdoor rinks and outdoor group physical activity, including hockey, addressing questions/ concerns brought forward by municipalities. You can also find the orders here: Order 44: https://www.alberta.ca/covid‐19‐orders‐and‐legislation.aspx Single person exemption: https://www.alberta.ca/enhanced‐public‐health‐measures.aspx ‐ (under exemptions) I hope everyone has a great holiday season. Cheers, Damien Traverse Section Chief, Stakeholder Relations Alberta Health Emergency Operations Centre [email protected] Questions and answers from CMOH Municipality Briefing (December 22) Municipality Questions Responses Door to Door Sales Are door-to-door salespersons allowed to Yes, door-to-door salespersons may continue to operate under the enhanced public health operate. They must practice good hand hygiene, measures? wear masks, and maintain 2 metres of distance between themselves and customers at all times. Municipality Data Why are only communities over 2,000 listed for The Government of Alberta is committed to COVID rates? Why is the information presented sharing information while protecting patients the to municipalities in the manner that it is? right to privacy. The current reporting threshold, including the 2,000 population cutoff, balances these two objectives. We are committed to continually reviewing and assessing our approach in the months to come. Alberta Health has released new municipal case data to provide a better idea of how COVID-19 case numbers have changed over time in Alberta communities. The cases are calculated by Alberta Health utilizing data provided by Alberta Health Services. Providing this information by date range ensures that municipalities can stay informed of how the spread is evolving, while continuing to protect patient confidentiality. The information is available here: https://www.alberta.ca/lookup/covid19-weekly- active-cases.aspx and will allow communities to view the number of cases in their areas for the last four weeks. This data set will be updated on a weekly basis every Tuesday. You also have the option to download a complete history of active cases going back to March 2020. Please provide more information about how the The population of a municipality is determined by population data for the new geographical data using the postal code provided for a household, breakdown are calculated. and may not be an accurate reflection of how many people actually live in a given municipality. For example, this may happen when people living in rural areas use a PO Box rather than their home address. In these cases, a person’s postal code may be attributed to a town or city even when they don’t live there. Website Classification: Protected A How do we find the updated map that has more The new municipality data can be found here: info as to where the cases are happening? https://www.alberta.ca/lookup/covid19-weekly- active-cases.aspx The website link isn't functional https://immunizealberta.ca/ is missing COVID-19 answers Vaccine Rollout The sequence of populations to be vaccinated Can you please speak to the next phases of will be addressed beginning in January. vaccine administration? Can you please clarify where EMS and Firefighters On December 2, 2020, Premier Kenney fall into the phases of vaccine? announced the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine task force responsible for the distribution of vaccines which are expected to be received in early January. Currently, the roll out plan (https://www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx) involves three phases, phase 1 sequencing includes the following populations: Health-care workers in intensive care units Respiratory therapists Staff in long term care and designated supportive living facilities Home care workers Health-care workers in emergency departments All residents of long term care and designated supportive living. Seniors 75 and over First Nations, Métis and persons 65 years of age and over living in a First Nations community or Metis Settlement Health-care workers in medical, surgical and COVID-19 units or operating rooms Phase 2 (April to September 2021) – continue targeting populations in sequence. At this time the sequence of vaccinating populations has not been defined. Phase 3 (Fall 2021) – anticipated start of roll-out to the general public. Classification: Protected A Outdoor Recreation 38(1) Subject to section 39 of this Order, all Can you please clarify whether outdoor team persons are prohitbited from participating in an sports are allowable? The guidance document outdoor group physical activity, including but not you have online still says YES, but everything else limited to games of hockey, where: we’ve seen says NO? THANKS! (a) Maintain a minimum physical distance of Can you please clarify previous comments on 2 metres between all participants at all skating? You mentioned a skating race could take times is not possible; place, but our understanding is sports (b) The outdoor group physical activity competitions are currently prohibited? includes more than 10 persons. The outdoor winter recreation guidance doc (2) For greater clarity, a person may participate in contradicts info on the website. an outdoor group physical activity consisting of less than 10 persons if minimum physical distance of 2 metres between all participants is maintained at all times. The website has been updated reflecting the new order: https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-orders- and-legislation.aspx. Communications Over the Holidays Any changes would be shared through current If changes in guidance or orders occur over the communications channels and municipalities holiday period how would municipalities be would be notified through those channels, as notified of these changes? required. Close Contact Isolation Requirements Close contacts must isolate for 14 days from their If someone is notified that they are a close last exposure to a person who has tested positive contact of a COVID case and are required to for COVID, regardless of if they (the close isolate but they go and get tested as negative are contact) test negative. Please see they free to stop isolation or must they isolate for https://www.alberta.ca/isolation.aspx all 14 days? Classification: Protected A From: Alberta Health Operations <AH‐[email protected]> Sent: Friday, December 18, 2020 4:18 PM To: Alberta Health Operations <AH‐[email protected]> Subject: Follow‐up to CMOH briefing with Municipalities (Dec 9 & 15) BCC: all Municipal CAOs and Meeting Attendees Good afternoon, As discussed on the call earlier this week, Alberta Health has released new municipal case data to provide a better idea of how COVID‐19 case numbers have changed over time in Alberta communities. The information available here: https://www.alberta.ca/lookup/covid19‐weekly‐active‐cases.aspx will allow communities to view the number of cases in their areas for the last four weeks. This data set will be updated on a weekly basis every Tuesday. You will also have the option to download a complete history of active cases going back to March 2020. The R‐Value for the province will be posted weekly on Mondays, and can be found here: https://www.alberta.ca/covid‐19‐alberta‐data.aspx#toc‐1 Additionally, in response to questions we’ve received related to the enforcement of public health orders, the attached document outlines the roles, responsibilities, and enforcement powers of each enforcement authority. This document was prepared in partnership with Alberta Justice & Solicitor General, the AGLC, and the Alberta Association of Police Chiefs. And, finally, also attached are the Q&A documents following up on the questions raised during the December 9 and December 15 calls with Dr. Hinshaw. As a reminder, our next session will be on Tuesday, December 22 at 2pm. Thank you once again for your support and patience. Greg Murphy Alberta Health Emergency Operations Centre 2nd Floor, ATB Place North 10025 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1S6 Page 1 Alberta Enforcement Agencies for Public Health Orders Roles and Responsibilities Agency Roles and Responsibilities During Current Empowerments and Limitations Restrictions Alberta Health / Develops COVID-19 policy and guidance. Does not conduct inspections or investigations. Office of the Provides expert consult to operationalize Cannot undertake enforcement of any kind. Chief Medical CMOH orders and guidance. Office of Health Issues CMOH Orders to protect Albertans from the COVID-19 pandemic. Liaises with partners with an enforcement role including Alberta Health Services (AHS); Justice and Solicitor General (JSG) (and through JSG, police, CPO1, CPO2); Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC); and Alberta Labour. AHS Safe Responds to business-related violations and Can enter any public place without warrant and Healthy complaints and work directly with owners to can request to be accompanied by a police Environments ensure compliance. officer or expert. Follows-up with complaints that are not time- Can close facilities and prevent public access to sensitive (e.g. businesses not following any location. COVID-19 guidance). Can order any work to be completed although Supports Police, CPO1 and CPO2 in passing orders can be appealed. along intelligence on violations or complaints Can pursue prosecution under the Public Health (e.g., gatherings or parties). Act (however a very limited number of Manages and oversee the public complaint prosecutions are pursued). portal. Can investigate infractions that have occurred in Can participate in scheduled coordination with the past to prevent recurrence and can pursue inspection partners and police. enforcement on actions occurring within the past Classification: Protected A Page 2 Provide timely response to police services and 6 months with sufficient evidence.