Coronavirus (COVID-19) Local News

“Per capita, we are testing more than any other jurisdiction in North America,” Hinshaw said. “To put that in perspective that means we have done one test for approximately every 290 Albertans.”

“This is a dire situation for so many people in Banff who are out of work and uncertain about housing, food and their future,” said Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen

“I am a full-time musician I have no other income,” said Alanna J. Brown. “It’s taken me a few years to get to this point, but unfortunately due to this virus, and understandably … all of my performances have been postponed or cancelled.”

“This is not the first state of local emergency we’ve had – we’ve had flood, [landfill] fire and now pandemic. I’ve had a talk with council and I believe we are moving forward in an intelligent way."

“All it takes is about 15 episodes of transmission in a crowded area before you’ve reached into the millions of possible contact,” said medical director of the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital Dr. Matt McIsaac said. “You get this exponential curve of the spread that happens because it’s not just the one person who goes onto spread it.”

“The other big picture here is we go in the backcountry, whether its backcountry skiing or other adventure sports, and something happens, we’re taxing emergency services that are probably already maxed out."

Additional measures put in place to help "flatten the curve"

“What that means for our parks is that pretty much anything with a door will be closed,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a press conference Tuesday (March 17).

“The single greatest concern in the future is coping with the peak time in the pandemic."