On April 26 the government of Alberta COVID-19 website indicated that there were 112 active cases in Olds, population 12,433. That translates to a reported infection rate of about one case of COVID for every 111 persons. How many infections are out there but are unreported is anybody's guess.
On a per 100,000 person basis, the rate of reported infections is 900. That put Olds in about fifth place in Alberta, relative to most infections per capita, in communities over 10,000.
Alberta has a higher COVID-19 infection rate than any other province or territory. And Olds was fifth highest in infections in Alberta.
Yet, I still see folks shopping without face masks, despite provincial regulation requiring masks. I see neighbours with multi-car loads of visitors on weekends. Way to go, Team Redneck.
What I would like to ask of you, Ms. Overwater, and Mr. Thomson (town councillors), is where is the leadership of mayor and council, relative to the COVID-19 pandemic?
What are you doing in terms of expediting the availability of vaccine for at risk groups, including front-line retail workers, and those employed in businesses where they must work in close proximity to others? What are you doing to enforce the mask requirements for shoppers in public retail establishments?
We are facing a pandemic, the likes of which I have not seen. And I lived through the polio epidemic of the early 1950s. But pretty much every time I venture out shopping, I see folks without the most basic preventative measure, that of a face mask, or folks who wear a mask with nose and or mouth uncovered. Where is the enforcement of these potentially life-threatening infractions?
Perhaps it's time to divert bylaw officers from policing dog-related matters, and issues of hedge trimming and sidewalk snow removal, to ensuring that folks wear masks when in enclosed public places, until this pandemic is over.
I am interested to learn your thoughts and proposals relative to combating COVID-19 in Olds, the town that apparently had the fifth highest infection rate in Alberta, which in turn, has more per capita infections than any other province or territory.
Terry Storey,
Olds
