Okotoks residents are doing their part to flatten the curve.
“Overall, I think Okotoks has done a really great job,” said Kelly Stienwand, Okotoks Protective Services director. “Our law enforcement officers are reporting back that they’re getting really strong compliance whenever they speak to members of the community and talk to them about social distancing and the requirements that are laid out in the public health orders.”
Those regulations include no gatherings of more than 15 people in one indoor or outdoor location, keeping two metres apart, mandatory 14-day solation from international travel or being in close contact with someone with COVID-19 as well as 10 days for those showing symptoms of a cough, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose or soar throat not relation to a pre-existing illness or health condition.
Stienwand attributed the excellent compliance to a combination of factors.
“We have had some really great communication come from our communications department with the Town of Okotoks, which has really helped the good messaging and the good habits that are required from our citizens,” he said. “The second part is we just happen to have a really strong community where people are generally very compliant and work closely with our law enforcement bodies.
“Our neighbourhoods are strong and our citizens are taking this very seriously.”
The numbers back up the statement.
Stienwand said protective services haven’t had to levy any fines for breaking social distancing regulations in Okotoks.
“We’re really proud of that,” he said. “It speaks to the community that we live in and it also speaks to the good relationships that our law enforcement officers have with the community.”
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The compliance rates haven’t changed drastically with the warmer weather and more people being out and about and enjoying the Foothills sunshine and scenery.
“I think what we’re seeing is with the additional people on the pathways and the extra pressure that’s coming to our parks and open spaces based on the warmer weather we’re seeing people are generally following the rules,” he said. “But that there is still the due diligence required. We want to pass on a strong message that even though our Province is starting a relaunch to certain pieces of our economy that hasn’t changed the landscape. The virus is still there, it’s present and we have to continue to do our due diligence.
“We’re encouraging our citizens to ensure that they’re still doing the good work on social distancing, providing room for people to pass on the pathway and being conscious with who they’re having contact with.”
Stienwand said there’s been very little on the large gatherings and failure to isolate files.
“Our peace officers have been called to a few calls where some people are gathering, but when they speak to them they find they might be a family that is operating with another family they might be co-operating with,” Stienwand added. “And this is consistent with what we’ve heard from the chief medical officer (Dr. Deena Hinshaw).
“Essentially we haven’t had a lot of problems in that regard and when we talk to people we find they’re very compliant and very willing to take some extra precautions as advised by our peace officers.”
Going forward, Stienwand reiterated that residents should remain diligent adding that something as simple as going to the park and playing catch can put folks at risk.
“It’s really important to think about a group of people who might gather in a parkway and throw a football or throw a Frisbee and we just want to remind people that common object they’re throwing amongst a variety of people can sometimes in itself be what can transmit the virus,” he said. “We want to encourage people to just take that extra time to think about the activities that they’re doing in parks and open spaces just to ensure they’re protecting themselves and the people they’re interacting with.”
