Banff

Local residents are asking the Town of Banff to consider a local state of emergency as a first step towards a series of staged lockdowns, or curfews, as Banff and Lake Louise COVID-19 positive case count reached 122 on Sunday (Nov. 22)

“There is no denying that Alberta's case count is now sharply rising, especially in communities such as Banff. Of course, everyone must rigorously follow public health guidelines at this critical moment," said Banff-Kananaskis MLA Mirdanda Rosin on social media in response to criticisms of her recently distributed newsletter.

“We know we’re not out of the woods yet. We’re wanting to continue to support safety measures and keeping people safe, and remain welcoming and open.”

“We’re still seeing investment; we’re seeing people using the opportunity to do projects that were possibly a little further out."

The Bow Valley hit a record number of COVID-19 cases on Friday (Nov. 20)  – 92 in Banff National Park, 27 in Canmore and six in the MD of Bighorn

"As an anchor sponsor, we encourage anyone in the community who can, to get on board and support the much-needed Thriving Futures campaign. Every contribution makes a difference, and we are very proud to contribute to this important campaign.”

"The increasing frequency and types of events held in recent years seem to be orientated more towards tourism promotion and marketing with little regard to these important criteria."

“If we see increasing COVID cases going into hospital, the only way to provide the space to care for them is to stop doing other services … Albertans who need other care could end up having their health conditions worsen as these COVID cases rises."

Banff's Emergency Coordination Centre is asking local businesses to report any positive cases to it, in an effort to verify actual COVID-19 cases in the community after questions were raised over how these statistics are reported by Alberta Health

With Bear Street redevelopment end date pushed back, Banff administration plans to present council with options on Nov. 23 for a pedestrian zone this winter