WESTLOCK – The Town of Westlock’s face covering bylaw, which came into force Oct. 28, 2020 to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the community, has been rescinded.
At their June 28 meeting, councillors voted 7-0 to repeal Bylaw 2020-22, which coupled with the impending removal of the provincial face-covering order means that as of Thursday, July 1, businesses will no longer be compelled to require patrons to wear a mask when entering.
Town councillors initially rejected a mask bylaw in August, but as COVID-19 cases rose into the 20s in the late fall and the community was placed on an Alberta Health Services Watch List, the town was forced to act as “the exponential spread is becoming a reality for us” said mayor Ralph Leriger during the Oct. 26 mask bylaw debate in council chambers.
Ultimately, Westlock’s bylaw, which included penalties up to $1,000 for repeated non-compliance, became moot when the province introduced its mandatory mask mandate, as well as a litany of other COVID-19-related public health measures, on Dec. 8.
“I think we’ve been pretty consistent throughout the last year taking our advice from official sources and following the lead of the provincial chief medical officer and the province,” said Leriger, who then went on to quote Dr. Deena Hinshaw during her most recent COVID-19 update. “As restrictions will soon ease we need to learn how to live with this virus because it doesn’t mean on July 1 it is gone — that’s certainly the truth as we’re seeing in other jurisdictions in the world.”
Face covering bylaws in Edmonton, St. Albert and Red Deer will also be lifted July 1, while Calgary’s bylaw will remain in place until at least July 5. And although the provincial mask order will all-but disappear July 1, face coverings will still be required for public transit, taxis and ride shares, as well in specific continuing care and acute care settings.
“It is critical we support each other with compassion. I don’t want to see anything other than that in our community and I think we’ve done reasonably well. Precautions like avoiding crowded indoor areas, or wearing a mask remains reasonable choices for some. Remember, some may move at different paces,” Leriger continued.
Get your shot
Going forward, the mayor highlighted the need for people to continue to get vaccinated.
According to provincial stats published online June 29, 10,630 Westlock-area people ages 12 and up have received one dose of vaccine, which equates to 63.1 per cent of those age groups — the number drops to 55.6 per cent when counting the entire population.
Meanwhile 6,127 people ages 12 and up (36.4 per cent) are fully vaccinated, while the percentage drops to 32 per cent when counting all residents.
Expanding further, 81 per cent of residents ages 75-plus are fully vaccinated, while 60.5 per cent of folks 60-74 have had both shots. The number plummets to 30 per cent for people ages 40-59, then to 14.5 per cent for adults 20-39, while only 7.4 per cent of youth ages 12-19 are fully vaccinated. As for kids younger than 12, several trials are ongoing to test the effectiveness and safety of existing vaccines for them.
“We should be encouraging everyone to get that vaccination. I’ve been watching a lot of news on CNN from around the world and the variant ‘D’ is spreading like wildfire and is really, really hitting people who haven’t been vaccinated. And it’s the people ages 20-39 that are really getting hit hard at this stage,” said Coun. John Shoemaker.
“I had my second dose and it knocked me on my butt for two days. But I would do it all over again because the alterative of getting sick and ending up in the ICU … what little discomfort I had for a day and a half is nothing compared to what it could have been in addition to the long-term consequences.”
Added Leriger: “I think we did good early on as a community (getting vaccinated) but we’ve stalled a little bit and I would certainty encourage people to get their shot — the doses are available and there’s lots of qualified people to administer them. We’re pretty good comparatively speaking on double doses and that likely represents our senior population and the fact they’ve been able to get their second dose sooner.”
