COVID-19 Status Update

November 13 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

The Hinton Emergency Operations Centre has concluded it's SOLE. As result, we now operate entirely under the restrictions of the province. As such, this section will now be used to share changes in provincial statuses relevant to the community. This is provided for ease of access - please refer to the Provincial website for up to the minute information.

Physical Distancing, Provincial Group Restrictions, 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 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.

Residents, businesses, and visitors choosing to remain non-compliant on physical distancing or gathering parameters can, and should, anticipate provincial fines being levied directly moving forward.

At this time, Hinton is considered open, with no additional measures in place. Please help prevent the spread. As such, Unless otherwise identified in public health orders, these gathering restrictions are in place:

200 people max for outdoor audience-type community events
100 people max for outdoor social gatherings and indoor seated audience events
50 people max for indoor social gatherings
No cap for worship gatherings, restaurant, cafes, lounges and bars, casinos and bingo halls, trade shows and exhibits (with public health measures in place)
- for further information on identifying your gathering, view the chart here.

To view current Provincial Restrictions, please visit the Government of Alberta's COVID web site, available here.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Update Thursday
The premier, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and officials provided an update on COVID-19 at 3:30 p.m on November 12, 2020.

During the update, new measures were put into place in an area by area approach. Currently, this approach identifies the Calgary area, Edmonton area, Fort McMurrary, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Red Deer and "Purple Zone Areas". Purple zone areas are considered "Enhanced", meaning risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread. It is informed by local context. View the enhanced health measure area information here. Please ensure that you review this information when traveling to other areas - including Yellowhead County.

At this time, Hinton is considered open, with no additional measures in place. Please help prevent the spread.

View via the e ntire update here.

COVID Test Results (repeated)

Albertans can receive their COVID-19 test results from AHS through an SMS text message or an automated phone call. Individuals who book a COVID-19 test through ahs.ca/covid or drop in for testing at an AHS assessment centre can now choose to get their results through these methods. Anyone who does not consent to receiving results via text message or through an automated phone call will instead receive their results through a call from an AHS team member.

Learn more on the AHS website here

Hinton Town Council

The most recent Hinton Town Council meeting was Tuesday, November 10, 2020. It was livestreamed via Youtube.

Agenda items included presentations from the Foothills Recreation Management Association, Hinton Mountain Bike Association, Hinton Historical Society, Hinton and District Chamber of Commerce, Home for Fine Arts Society of Hinton and a discussion regarding the Hinton Golf Course.

The next meeting is scheduled for November 17, 2020. Residents interested in taking part in Minute with Council can click here to submit their appointment notice (more information below).

Minute with Council Access (repeated)

Early in the Town Response to COVID-19, Town Council meetings were moved to remote environments, closed to the public, and streamed online to allow for easy access by residents. However, one aspect of our Council meetings that was lost in this necessary response was Minute with Council.

Traditionally, Residents have been welcomed to speak to Council about issues, events, celebrations or concerns during Minute with Council. At the beginning of each Council Meeting, the chair of the meeting opens the floor to the public to speak and share with Council members, administration and meeting observers.

As we determine the "new normal" in this pandemic response, the Town of Hinton has established a procedure to take part in Minute with Council remotely, temporarily, as we prepare for further steps in our reopening plans.

This process is being established to avoid risks of public meeting teleconferencing, such as inappropriate or abusive interjections by anonymous or false identities.

We appreciate your understanding should this cause any inconvenience for you.

Please use this form to receive an invite code to join our proceedings remotely.
Should you encounter difficulty using the form, please call 780-865-6072.

Read more here.

Facility Opening Plans

For residents convenience, the Town of Hinton has prepared, and updated, the above image representing open statuses and plans for many core facilities.

For further reference on Community Services' statuses and updates, please view Friday's edition of ComServ (more information below).

Reopened

Athabasca Riverfront Park
All Outhouses
Protective Services Building (RCMP)
Infrastructure Services Building
Government Centre
West Fraser Guild
Emergency Services Building

Reopened (Consult ComServ for Details)

Peoples Centre
Arenas
Pool
- Phase 2 Now in Effect - Phase 3 begins Monday
Courts/Other Indoor Facilities
Bouldering Wall will remain closed until precautionary measures are in place.
Hinton Municipal Library
- Phase 4 Now in Effect

In Progress

Kinsmen Park Public Washroom Facilities

Hinton 2020 Town Hall

November 06, 2020
In late 2019, Hinton Town Council held a Town Hall in the Hinton PATH, welcoming residents to visit the building and ask questions of Council, in addition to sharing an address on the state of the community. While a great deal many things have changed in the 365 days since then, one thing hasn't: your Hinton Town Council, and the Town of Hinton, want to hear from you.

Working with the ASH, the Town of Hinton has booked the facility for November 16, 2020, to play host to this years Town Hall. Starting at 7pm, the event will offer Hintonites an opportunity to hear an address from Mayor Michaels, followed by a question and answer segment.

Instructions for Attendees (digital)
If you've seen a Council meeting since March, you know how this Town Hall is going to work! Find the link either on our website calendar, right here in this CivicSend, or on our YouTube here. Individuals who wish to ask a question can use Youtube chat, and your messages will be shared to staff on location. If you'd like to share questions in advance, use this email address.

Instructions for Attendees (in person)

Due to the rising Covid-19 cases in Alberta ASH has decided that masks are mandatory within The PATH facility.

ASH will also have hand sanitizer stations, and may implement Symptom Checklists as patrons enter. In addition, individuals who choose to ask a question using the provided microphones will be instructed to don and doff a microphone muff for your own protection.

Tickets will be provided in multiple waves to enable compliance with the cohort system for seat mates. Anyone wanting to attend is recommended to visit the eventbrite page here to monitor ticket availability. Those seated together must, as per ASH, be apart of the same cohort group. Seating wave one availability is for 11 groups of up to 4 people. Once these 11 blocks are booked, new seating may become available.

If non-cohort groups happen to book the same block, your booking may be adjusted and you will be advised at the time of attendance.

Please note: seats are reserved and extremely limited to enable distancing compliance. Depending on cohort groups, between 40-80 residents may be able to attend. Tickets may become available in waves depending on attendance of cohort groups.

ComServ 13 Available Today

To aid is residents understanding of all of community services current status, plans, and programming, ComServ, a newsletter from Community Services and Strategic Services at the the Town of Hinton, will be issued every two weeks on Friday morning.

The most recent edition will be released Friday morning.

During the pandemic, the newsletter will be issued through both it's own channel and this (News and Announcements) channel. The newsletter may also be subscribed to directly via NotifyMe, available here, or downloaded online at Hinton.ca/ComServ.

Learn More

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