Calgary’s third COVID-19 pandemic state of local emergency to expire
Global News
The third Covid-19 pandemic-related state of local emergency in Calgary will be allowed to expire on Dec. 2; however, the city’s mask and vaccine passport bylaws remain in place.
Three months after declaring one, the City of Calgary will be allowing the state of local emergency (SOLE) to expire on Dec. 2.
The SOLE was declared on Sep. 3, following an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant.
At the time, city officials told the emergency management committee the SOLE was needed to give city agencies enhanced nimbleness for tasks like procurement and rapid testing.
“Once those powers are no longer needed, there’ll be no need for the state of local emergency,” then-mayor Naheed Nenshi said at the time.
A news release from the city on Tuesday said those powers are “no longer deemed necessary.”
“Most Calgarians have rolled up their sleeves to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community from the pandemic with 88 per cent of Calgarians aged 12 and older now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the vaccination for children aged 5-11 underway,” Chief Susan Henry of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) said in a statement.
According to provincial data, 18,417 children aged 5 to 11 received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine over the first weekend they were available to that age cohort.
The CEMA chief urged continued caution with the pandemic despite recent downward trends in cases and hospitalizations.