Following the Alberta government’s declaration of a public health emergency on Tuesday, the City of Calgary declared a state of local emergency (SOLE) Wednesday afternoon.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he and Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra — chair of the city’s emergency management committee — made the decision following advice from city officials and the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), allowing the city to be on an “emergency footing,” to more rapidly work with the province to address growing COVID-19 case numbers.
Read more:
Alberta enacts 2nd COVID-19 state of public health emergency. Here’s what it means
Nenshi said for citizens, “it doesn’t really mean anything.”
“We’re not anticipating any further orders or instructions or restrictions on how you live your life beyond what we’ve been talking about and what the province announced yesterday,” Nenshi said Wednesday.
As of today at 1:31 pm, The City of Calgary has entered a State of Local Emergency.
We’re doing this so we’re ready and able to take action where needed to protect the safety of Calgarians. L
Now, what matters is kindness. It’s how we’ll get through this, stronger, together. pic.twitter.com/3PJZ18di6H
— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) November 25, 2020
“Undoubtedly, we’re in a pretty serious emergency,” Nenshi said, adding he expects the city’s active case count to soon surpass 5,000.
Calgary’s previous SOLE lasted from March 15 to June 12 and saw the city close city-owned facilities and set some building capacity restrictions.
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No clear direction yet on how to enforce Alberta’s new COVID-19 measures: officials
Meanwhile, the City of Edmonton opted not to declare a state of local emergency on Wednesday.
“At this time, administration is not recommending that a local state of emergency be enacted,” interim city manager Adam Laughlin said. “However, we continue to monitor the environment and are prepared to bring a recommendation forward to council should the situation change.
“The next three weeks are a crucial test of our collective accountability.”
On Tuesday, the province added new targeted restrictions including prohibiting indoor social gatherings, limiting outdoor gatherings to 10 people, mandating masks in workplaces in the Edmonton and Calgary areas and reducing capacity in places of worship to one-third.