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COVID-19 Status Update

April 30, 2020 

To aid in resident's understanding of Hinton Emergency Operation Centre, Hinton Town Council, and Town of Hinton Administration responses to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic event, this update gathers recent news into one document. While emergent issues and information will continue to be shared as necessary, weekly updates going forward will use this format to gather, but also distinguish between, actions in place in the community.

Hinton Emergency Operations Centre

SOLE Extended
Today (April 30, 2020), the Town of Hinton Emergency Operations Centre and Mayor Marcel Michaels signed a renewal for the Town of Hinton's COVID-19 State of Local Emergency.

The EOC is currently in the process of reviewing local SOLE restrictions to prepare and plan for their phased removal as it is safe to do so. Details on this plan will be shared early next week.

Physical Distancing and Cleaning Practices Must Continue
It is essential that residents and businesses understand that suppression activities, in particular maintaining safe distances, must be maintained.

If not maintained, transmission will have an opportunity to rapidly rebound, potentially producing an epidemic comparable in scale to what would have been seen had no interventions been adopted.

The Town, and Province, need your help to continue to restrict your activities in the interest of community health. Distancing, hand washing, and sanitizing is absolutely crucial.

Please be advised that mandatory physical distancing under the Provincial Public Health Order will continue to be enforced in Hinton. Those who choose not to comply with this may be fined.

What is a SOLE?
A SOLE is a State of Local Emergency. By declaring a state of local emergency, the Town can access resources needed to address a potential outbreak within the community, as well as enforce additional restrictions and closures required to contain the spread.

The well-being of our community members and Town staff remains our top priority, and this declaration is an important step the Town must take in order to effectively manage this public health event.

Declaring a state of local emergency is a legislated process allowing the municipality to act swiftly if needed in order to prevent the spread of the virus in Hinton. This declaration was done to ensure essential Town services, such as water and other utilities, police, and fire, were maintained and to work toward phased planning and concise actions.

Why is the SOLE Remaining?
Protecting our citizens’ and employees’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic is our priority. As such we have been following the advice of both the Federal and Provincial Medical Health Officers. We have taken effective measures based on Alberta Health Services direction and through correspondence with our local health services to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Hinton and we are playing our part within the Yellowhead County Region. Keeping the SOLE in place enables us to quickly respond, anticipate, and react to rapidly evolving scenarios.

The provincial health authorities are now anticipating a late May peak. Our EOC decisions aim to support this; however, all municipal restrictions are reviewed weekly to determine whether they will remain in place.
 
Reminder: Dogs On-leash
At this time, all sidewalks and trails within Town limits are considered on-leash for animals and signage indicating where pets may be off-leash have been removed. The use of a leash is an effective way to maintain appropriate physical distancing, as the interaction between pets and people is prevented. Should you have complaints or concerns regarding animals off-leash, please contact Bylaw at 780-865-6009. 

Learn more on the SOLE webpage here, or announcement CivicSend here.

Thank You
Thank you to all Hinton residents for their compliance. It is the belief of the Provincial Operations Centre and Hinton Emergency Operations Centre that Alberta, and Hinton, have yet to see a "peak" past which we could consider removing more restrictions. Your continued compliance helps make the impact to not just local health infrastructure, but provincial and national resources, as manageable as possible. 

As a reminder, the Town of Hinton is not able to lessen, or remove, any restrictions imposed as part of the Province's state of Public Health Emergency. View the restrictions from the province via the links to the province available below. 

Hinton Town Council

Tuesday's Standing Committee meeting was an in camera agenda. The next Regular Council meeting is scheduled for May 5, 2020 and will be livestreamed via Youtube. Find the video at Hinton.ca/CouncilLive and the briefs here.

Council meetings are closed to the public and occurring via teleconferencing. However, they are being live streamed via Youtube to allow residents to remain engaged in the democratic process in this pandemic event.  

Town of Hinton Administration

Friendly Visitor Program Becomes Friendly Caller
In this pandemic event, social connections are more important than ever. But finding them is also more difficult than ever. That’s why we’ve worked to reorient our Friendly Visitor Program to Friendly Callers! Our application packages are available now! Find the form for callers here, and form for applicants here. Learn more about the program on the website, available here. This program is offered through the Volunteer Centre in FCSS. 

Laptops Available for Non-Leisure Purposes
A computer is available during COVID-19 for the purposes of accessing government services online. Residents in need of online access are able to call 780-865-6036 to make an appointment - a safe use policy applies. This service is offered in partnership by the Hinton Municipal Library and FCSS.

Call 780-865-2634 or Use RequestTracker for Infrastructure Services

While our building may be closed, many staff members continue to work in alternate capacities. This means garbage, water, roads, emergency and protective services are all continuing. Please continue to place waste containers for pick up in line with your scheduled collection date, and continue to call 780-865-2634 for Infrastructure Services and Parks questions or requests. In addition, please continue to use the RequestTracker service to send in requests like potholes. 

REMINDER: HKFS Reopening for Essential Workers
The Town of Hinton is pleased to announce that our Hinton Kids for Success Child Care Facility, a licensed out-of-school care option for children age 5-12, has been approved for reopening by the Government of Alberta to provide childcare for essential workers. 
 
All licenced childcare facilities were closed by the Government of Alberta in March. Recently, the Province expanded the list of essential service workers for whom the availability of childcare was necessary. Please see the Government of Alberta website for a complete list of essential service workers.

More in CivicSend available here.

Learn More

The next scheduled COVID-19 related update is Thursday, May 7, 2020. 

Town of Hinton Previous Update (April 23, 2020)
Town of Hinton Previous Update (April 16, 2020)

Town of Hinton Previous Update (April 09, 2020)
Town of Hinton COVID Webpage
Town of Hinton Defer Webpage
Town of Hinton SOLE Webpage
Province of Alberta COVID Webpage
Province of Alberta - Emergency Management Act
Government of Canada COVID Webpage
World Health Organization COVID Website

Questions

Residents with questions are asked to contact info@hinton.ca. Responses may be delayed due to EOC needs.

Members of local media with questions are asked to use the Public Information Officer contact information by clicking here or call 780-865-6001 and leave a message. Messages regarding PIO response will be returned within one business day. 

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131 Civic Centre Rd Hinton, AB T7V 2E5

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