OLDS — It’s too early to say when the town’s Incident Command Post (ICP) will be shut down, despite the fact that case numbers have dropped in the community over the past few weeks, chief administrative officer Michael Merritt says.
Merritt made that statement in response to a query from coun. Mary Jane Harper during town council’s Jan. 25 meeting.
The ICP was set up last year to enable the town to coordinate response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the community.
During the council meeting, ICP deputy director Jennifer Lutz said the number of active COVID-19 cases in Olds and area had fallen to 12 from a high of 39 around the Christmas season.
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That prompted Harper to ask if the ICP would be “stood down” if cases fall to 10 or less.
"Not likely, just because it went down. Because, if it goes below the 11 mark or the 10 mark, we are still basically in the same zone for 30 more days,” Merritt said.
He said the ICP was started up last year when COVID cases began rising from three or four.
“We just want to be on top of things,” Merritt said.
“So no, if our numbers do dip, we’ll still likely be having the ICP. There’ll be a full discussion between the Emergency Management team,” Merritt said, noting that discussion would involve himself, ICP director Brian Powell, deputy ICP director Jennifer Lutz and others.
