MLA unveils plan to deal with rising city COVID cases
By Lethbridge Herald on March 26, 2021.
Herald photo by Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips unveils her four-point plan to address the alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in Lethbridge in recent weeks at the Galt Museum and Archives on Friday.Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge Herald
tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips is advocating for the Government of Alberta to introduce new Lethbridge-specific measures to deal with the recent alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in the city.
“There are currently 784 active cases in the South Zone with 508 active here in the City of Lethbridge,” she stated at a press conference held at the Galt Museum and Archives on Friday. “We have here in Lethbridge the highest rate of active cases among the province’s major cities. The rate of active cases in Lethbridge is over four times higher than in Edmonton, and more two and a half times higher than Calgary’s rate of COVID-19 cases. Those are startling figures.”
Phillips introduced a four-point plan which would, first, feature a daily briefing from the South Zone Medical Director until case counts return to the lower second wave levels seen earlier this year. The briefing should include, she said, “specific precautions for Lethbridge residents to reduce the spread of COVID-19, especially with the more contagious variant strains.”
Phillips said, secondly, there should be daily reporting of R-value in the South Zone in order to allow local officials and medical personnel to better track how the disease is spreading in Lethbridge. She said thirdly there should be more provincial support for small businesses through the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant (SMERG) which are impacted by COVID-19. And, finally, she said, there should be an expansion of COVID Care Teams program to Lethbridge just as those teams are already on the ground in other cities like Calgary and Edmonton.
COVID Care Teams are sent in areas of those cities hardest hit by the disease to provide additional outreach, support and education to vulnerable residents particularly.
“If we sit back and do nothing again our healthcare system will once again be pushed to the brink,” Phillips stated, “and we will see small businesses, and those who work for them, suffer again with uncertainty and lack of support.”
Phillips stopped short of advocating for additional public health measures which might lead to the reclosure of some local businesses at this time.
“It’s not up to me to judge,” she replied when asked about this absence in her plan presented on Friday.
“I am not an epidemiologist for starters, and, for second, the people of Alberta do not have access to the same modelling and projections, and like I said R-value, reporting they have in other provinces. It is up to the province to be transparent with everyone on all modelling and all available reporting, as is done in other jurisdictions. And it is also up to them to put in place a framework on what kinds of drivers will predate certain kinds of decisions made for certain kinds of business activity.”
Phillips also rejected comparisons that the regional measures approach she was suggesting in this instance is in any way akin to what some UCP MLAs, particularly Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes, have suggested in other jurisdictions where COVID cases remain low.
“What I am laying out here is a serious and credible plan that understands COVID-19 represents a very real threat to our health,” she stated, “and there are certainly elements within the Alberta Legislature who even take issue with having to wear a mask. Mr. Barnes is one of them. I don’t know if I am in any way, shape or form in agreement with his approach to this matter. What we have here is a specific regional issue to meet.”
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I am not this and not that, but I am an expert.
Speaking for yourself, or just wishful thinking?
We shall see, I guess, what happens how the greatly increased incidences of COVID in Lethbridge and its surrounding areas are handled. MLA Phillip’s suggestions have merit. Will action of these suggestions be taken or will it be another lockdown, or, let the cards drop as they will, i.e. more illnesses and deaths?
In both our local town and in Lethbridge, we have encountered, many times, folks not wearing masks when in local businesses, in the post office, etc. I know folks are tired of wearing masks, but it is one of the least that can be done to prevent spread. There can be the argument that this is not the same, but for years, masks have been worn during surgical and other pertinent medical procedures. And, in hospitals, when there have been outbreaks of illnesses such as RSV, Norwalk, influenza, etc., the isolation procedures include masking, gowning, gloving, goggles/face shields, etc. Even in countries like Japan, if folks go out with having a cold, many wear a mask.
Masks are effective, like it, or not. Would I want medical personnel doing my surgery without masks or, myself, be a patient on a unit where the isolation procedures are not followed for an outbreak? No.
So now with the B117 COVID variant spreading like wildfire, the merits of masking, hand hygiene, distancing, not touching your face/nose/eyes unless hands are clean, staying home as much as possible, for sure staying home if one is ill, are ever more crucial.
We need to all hang in there until we have this pandemic under control, so it takes all hands on deck.
We already have a daily briefing from Dr Hinshaw, with questions allowed from the media. It may be provincial in nature but duplication and recycling of the same information is unnecessary. As well specific precautions for residents to reduce the spread of COVID-19, especially with the more contagious variant strains applies to all regions of Alberta. This is already being done. The AHS receives R value information as it is regularly disseminated. Most of the public cares not nor do they pay any more attention to and are growing very weary of most things covid. Giving a daily “R value” to the public is yet more covid information than what people would be interested in. People already know how to be safe and are tired of being lectured to every day about the perils of covid. The important thing is that people take the necessary common sense precautions to protect themselves, and they are.
It is Notley who stands in the legislature and piously lectures to the government that the economy should not be opened up any more than it already is due to the covid situation. Just how does that help small business or any business? Phillips proposes the typical progressive socialist tactic of throwing money around to help small business. The best thing for small business is to have a robust and steadfast vaccination program so that the public can get back to its regular normal mode of daily living. The national vaccine procurement was bungled from day one by our PM. The federal government even now have the audacity to suggest the second vaccine dose be delayed by 3-4 months which clearly contravenes the vaccine manufacturer’s recommendations. This is because of the dire shortage of vaccine supply due to the negligence of the federal government. Throwing boat loads of money at a problem never does solve the problem. One has to just look at the thousands of cases of CERB fraud which now have to be investigated and dealt with. That will cost countless hours of manpower and money. Seems that Shannon’s ideas come exclusively from other Alberta cities but she is slyly trying to pawn those ideas off as hers. She has no original ideas or solutions.
You’ll have to share, Dakota, a link for the Lethbridge-specific data is (R-values, variant numbers, demographics, problem areas). I think that is what Shannon Phillips is talking about.
The reason is that Lethbridge, Lethbridge county and Cardston county are out of control. Clearly, we are not following what you consider common sense precautions. More information and interventions dedicated to these regions might be helpful. It seems that we have too much ‘freedom’ and not enough care-for-the-other … another dastardly socialist narrative.
You will have to get the R Value info from AHS. They would have that. In November the publication by AHS of R Values was discontinued to the media. The “experts” state that you want the R value under 1. I doubt many people would actually follow the those values anyway even if they were published. You do pose a good question, why are the numbers rising again? Perhaps people are becoming weary of the covid rules and are letting down their guard, home contact infections, there are many plausible reasons of which the experts dont even know. I am not aware of any other provinces that have R Values publicly available either.
Here is the link you were wanting. It is updated weekly. This same information would also be available to Shannon Phillips so for her to state it is not would be misleading and or false. Its not the first time Phillips mislead or gave false information to the press and public. Have a great day and stay safe.
https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-alberta-data.aspx#jumplinks-2
If anyone thinks that wearing any mask short of a surgical n95 mask help slow the virus, than I have a bridge to sell them. The masks that everyone wears out in public do more harm to the people wearing them than good. It also gives people a false sense of security, they then do things they should not do thinking they are protected. All this talk about numbers and briefings also do nothing, just noise. We need to learn to live with this, get vacinated and live our lives.
Hope this MLA is paying some of those taxpayer bucks to the Herald for 3 day coverage on their website. Otherwise the local media’s bias is showing.