This year in COVID

ATHABASCA – March 12, 2020 — if you look back in the Athabasca section of TownAndCountryTODAY.ca, that is the date of the first entry in the COVID-19 section that was created to organize and compile all things coronavirus. The headline of that first story is, “Most coronavirus patients recover, still anxiety, fear loom.” 

“'Social distancing' ramps up as COVID-19 spreads and economic toll mounts,” was published the same day followed by “Cancel large gatherings, Alberta says.” By that time, there had been 23 confirmed cases in Alberta — the first in Calgary Feb. 21. 

"There is a window of opportunity for Alberta to slow the spread of the virus, and thereby protect the health of Albertans," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health in a March 12 press conference, before she became a household name. "The steps we take now and, in the days ahead will help determine the severity of this outbreak for Alberta." 

By Mar. 15, the province announced all classes, from K-12, were cancelled. And two days later, Premier Jason Kenney declared a public health emergency,  

As schools closed and certain businesses were shuttered to limit the spread of the new virus, the Athabasca region still had not had a positive case, but officials in Athabasca County, Town of Athabasca and Village of Boyle were paying close attention to provincial guidelines. 

On Mar. 19, the province announced the first COVID-related death had occurred the day before, when a man in his 60s, with underlying health conditions, died. 

By Mar. 27, as more aggressive measures started to be taken, non-essential businesses were closed by the province, and gatherings were restricted to 15 people. By the end of March there were nine deaths reported in the province, and 754 confirmed cases. 

The first case of COVID-19 in the Athabasca area came Apr. 22, and the second on Apr. 23. Barrhead and Westlock had already seen a few cases at this point, and all had recovered. There were 66 deaths provincewide at this time, and 3,401 confirmed cases. 

Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell and Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt urged residents to follow public health guidelines regarding travelling, social distancing and personal hygiene. Masks were still a recommendation, and legislation requiring their use was still seen as an overreach by some, and as a violation of civil rights by others. 

“I do hear concerns about people from other areas coming here,” said Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt. “I think people have to respect that now that we have two cases of the virus in the county, obviously it is serious. They should be respecting the seriousness of the situation.” 

“I think, what I see, is 90 per cent of everybody is doing a pretty good job of social distancing and that sort of thing,” said Powell, adding that the other 10 per cent are normally good, upstanding citizens, but too many think they are the exceptions to the rules. “We have Typhoid Marys out there and they have no idea they could be passing this on.” 

By the end of April, the talk of reopening the economy was well underway, and plans to enter into Stage 1 were set to begin May 14. Two weeks later as the number of cases seemed to plateau, the province announced Stage 2 of the reopening may begin sooner than expected. 

By the end of May, testing had been opened up to everyone. There were 143 deaths at this point. And in mid-June, the province announced the public health emergency was over. 

Numbers remained low in the region throughout the summer and it was decided schools would reopen across the province, with certain restrictions.  

The Village of Boyle’s first case was reported Aug. 25, and within the borders of Athabasca County, there had been nine cases altogether — two were active and seven had recovered. As of Sept. 3, there were 1,415 active cases around the province, bringing the total number of cases since March to 14,310 — the Calgary and Edmonton zones accounted for more than three-quarters of those. 

The first mention of a potential face-covering bylaw came up at Athabasca town council’s Sept. 1 meeting. 

On Sept. 8, Aspen View Public Schools reported an individual at Edwin Parr Composite School had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Supt. Neil O’Shea told trustees two days later that besides a few bumps their first time around, the school division and Alberta Health Services had worked well together in determining close contacts of the individual and advising them to self-isolate for 14 days. He also said there had been little resistance to the measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus. 

“We do not want schools to close again — that's just not good for anybody. If we shut down in let's say November or December and people had to go until June with no school that's not good for society," O'Shea said. 

Aspen View has since dealt with cases at all but three of its 11 schools. Boyle, Grassland and Rochester remain without a case as of the end of 2020. Between the first EPC case and now, there has only been one further case there, along with one at Landing Trail Intermediate School and three at Whispering Hills Primary School. 

By the end of October, cases in the Westlock region had spiked, but there were just three active cases in the Athabasca area, out of 16 cases in total. As of Oct. 29, the total number of active cases in Alberta sat at 4,921, with 21,803 recoveries and 318 deaths.  

Nationally, Canada also reached 10,000 deaths since March at this point. 

On Nov. 17, both Athabasca and Athabasca County councils voted to bring in temporary face-covering bylaws. The exact same bylaw came before Village of Boyle council Nov. 18, but it was not passed, as councillors didn’t think it would be enforceable. 

"So, here's one of my problems with this bylaw we got — it doesn't seem like anybody knows what the Hell it is,” mayor Colin Derko said. “It's all been presented to everybody and everybody's reading it differently, which is my fear about somebody cutting and pasting and making a bylaw and three days later, municipalities just accepting it and then let's just see what happens …Why would we be putting ourselves at an open risk by putting in a bylaw that we can't enforce?” 

On Nov. 22, the town and county put their bylaws into effect when the active case rate per 100,000 breached 50. Two days later the province announced a second public health emergency, which would be re-evaluated mid-December, but when the day came, a four-week lockdown, scheduled to end Jan. 14 was instituted by the province, including a mandatory mask regulation and stiff fines. 

Classes for Grades 7-12 were once again moved online, while students in Grades 1-6 stayed in school until Christmas break, which started Dec. 18. The break was over Jan. 4, as all students returned to at-home learning until next week, when they will physically go back to school. 

The number of active cases in the Athabasca region reached its highest point Dec. 17 with 47 active cases and 69 recoveries. Regional case numbers have not been updated on the government’s geospatial map over the Christmas break, but as of the morning of Jan. 4, the Athabasca region, which includes the town, county and village, has 25 active cases and 110 recoveries. There have also been zero deaths as a result of the virus. The active case rate per 100,000 residents now sits at 189.5, with a population of 13,196. 

Boyle, which is a separate geographical area within Athabasca County, has seven of those cases, and 40 overall. 

Provincially, the latest numbers from the government are accurate as of Dec. 29. There have been 100,428 positive cases reported — 14,555 are currently active — and 84,827 have recovered. There have been 1,046 deaths, and 921 are currently in hospital — 152 of them in intensive care. 

There have been 2.78 million tests performed on 1.65 million people, and vaccines are currently being rolled out for healthcare workers and seniors. 

Dr. Hinshaw is expected to give an update on the numbers the afternoon of Jan. 4. 

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