This week Cochrane’s mandatory face-covering bylaw was activated on Monday (Nov. 10) for the first time since its creation at the end of July.
It is commendable Cochrane made it this far into the pandemic without having to activate the bylaw— But with 14 cases of COVID-19 and counting our community needs to step up and do better to flatten the curve of infection.
One of the critical ways to help slow the spread of the virus is wearing a face covering.
Wearing a mask is not a political statement— Unfortunately, a simple act of kindness and compassion has been transformed into a hot button political issue.
The act of wearing a mask demonstrates one cares about and is committed to keeping their neighbours and families safe.
Now is the time for our community, province and country to band together for the greater good and protect our most vulnerable from this virus— A key part of this will be following public health recommendations, including wearing a mask.
It has become a cliche to say that COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come, but we need to acknowledge that for now, we are stuck with the virus.
This year has proven to be both physically and emotionally exhausting, it is understandable that some of us are fatigued by the constant flow of COVID-19 information, but we cannot let up on the fight against the virus.
We must continue to work together to flatten the curve of infection to ensure our health care system is not overwhelmed.
This week alone our province saw case numbers rise to more than 8,000 active COVID-19 cases. To date, almost 400 Albertans have died from the virus.
The second wave of the virus has officially come to Alberta— These total active cases have smashed previous records and the same numbers are occurring with hospitalizations.
On Monday there were a reported 192 people hospitalized with the virus, including 38 in intensive care units.
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw has described these numbers as “concerning” and called on Albertas to take action to help flatten the curve.
“It is vital that we protect the health system,” Hinshaw said. “We cannot simply dictate where and when this virus will spread. We all need to protect each other.”
While these numbers may seem frightening and overwhelming, they serve as a reminder we all have a role in keeping our community safe.
Simple actions that include wearing a mask, washing your hands, staying home when sick and practicing social distancing will quite literally save lives.
There is no road map for the situation we are in and we need to remain focused on being kind and supportive of each other as we navigate the pandemic.
Mayor Jeff Genung put it best.
“If we’re not careful here and we don’t start to make a dent in the amount of cases that we’re seeing it's not going to be an easy fix,” Genung said. “We’re focussing on masks and we should be focussing on humanity.”
