Calgary restores mask bylaw, declares state of local emergency amid COVID-19 surge

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Calgary stepped back into an earlier stage of the pandemic Friday, restoring the municipal mask bylaw to combat another rising tide of COVID-19.

The decision came just a few hours after the provincial government announced the return of the provincewide mask mandate, but city officials said action was also needed at the local level to ensure city peace officers have the power to enforce the rules. For example, they’ve been unable to write tickets for violations of the provincial rules already in place that mandate mask use on public transit.

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Some councillors said they were compelled to respond to what they called a “vacuum” of provincial leadership as COVID infections, mostly among unvaccinated Albertans, put hospital capacity at risk. According to Calgary Emergency Management Agency assistant chief Coby Duerr, the city’s test positivity rate of 7.5 per cent is approaching the highest level of the entire pandemic.

The new city bylaw looks the same as the one council decided to lift almost exactly two months ago, but it now has specific conditions for repeal. The rules expire once the COVID case rate in Calgary stay lower than 100 per 100,000 population for 10 days in a row, or by the end of the year, whichever comes earlier.

Face coverings will again be required in any publicly accessible indoor space in the city — that covers things like retail stores and restaurants.

Another state of local emergency has also been declared in Calgary. This is the third time the city has put a state of emergency in place during the pandemic. The previous one ended in mid-June.

Nenshi on the province's COVID announcement earlier today: "For this to work, it has to be coherent. There has to be a thread of logic behind these decisions. And this felt like spaghetti being thrown at the wall." #yyccc

— Madeline Smith (@meksmith) September 4, 2021

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