Lacombe County moved to Enhanced Status on the Provincial Relaunch Status Map. The Province of Alberta has implemented a number of voluntary and mandated public health measures for our community to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The Lacombe County Enhanced Status applies to the Town of Blackfalds, Town of Bentley, Town of Eckville, Village of Alix, Village of Clive, as well as ALL hamlets and summer villages within our municipal boundaries and the remainder of Lacombe County.
- Hamlets include: Mirror, Haynes, Joffre, Tees, Morningside, Rosedale, Hespero
- Summer Villages include: Gull Lake, Sunbreaker Cove, Birchcliff, Half Moon Bay
Lacombe County currently has 11 active cases, for a case rate of 50.5 per 100,000 people.
We are actively monitoring the situation and continue to monitor Alberta Health Services (AHS) instructions. The health, safety and well-being of County residents, businesses and employees and maintaining essential services for the public are the County’s top priorities.
Lacombe County is under the following Public Health Measures as directed by AHS:
MANDATORY MEASURES (As of November 17, 2020)
- 15-person limit on social and family gatherings - indoors and outdoors - where people are mixing and mingling.
- Restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs must stop liquor sales by 10pm and close by 11pm - applies to Class A, B or C licenses (Nov 13-27).
- 50-person limit on indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies and funeral services.
VOLUNTARY MEASURES
- Faith-based gatherings limited to 1/3 capacity at one time.
- Limit your cohorts to no more than 3: your core household, your school, and one other sport or social cohort. Young children who attend child care could be part of 4 cohorts, given that child care settings have not been a high risk for spread.
- Wear a mask in all indoor work settings, except when alone in a workspace, like an office or cubicle, where you are safely distanced from others, or an appropriate barrier is in place.
- No social gatherings inside your home or outside of your community. Instead, socialize outdoors or in structured settings, like restaurants or other businesses that are subject to legal limits and take steps to prevent transmission.
- Employers in office settings should implement measures to reduce the number of employees in the workplace at one time.
WHY THESE MEASURES ARE NEEDED
We must take action now to help slow the virus's spread and make sure the health system can continue supporting patients with COVID-19, influenza and many other needs. There is a time lag between when people get infected and when new cases are identified. This means the cases we see today were infected up to 2 weeks ago. By following provincial recommendations, staying home and reducing close contacts, you can lower the chance of spreading the virus to others.
We must work together to protect each other. These measures will help protect our health care system, keep schools and businesses open, and protect vulnerable Albertans by limiting the spread of the virus.
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO
We must continue following existing public health measures to keep ourselves and others safe:
- Keep two metres apart when you can, wear a mask when you can't
- Practice good hygiene: wash your hands often and cover coughs and sneezes
- Monitor your symptoms every day
- If sick, stay home, get tested, and follow mandatory isolation requirements while waiting for results:
- if positive, isolate from others for 10 days or until symptoms are gone, whichever is longer
- if negative, stay home until you're better
- Avoid non-essential travel
- Get the flu shot to keep influenza cases low so health workers can focus on the COVID-19 pandemic
- Stay informed: Stay up to date on the situation and get your information from reliable sources, such as this webpage: www.alberta.ca/COVID19.