Canada’s chief public health officer says trick-or-treating should be possible this Halloween.
Dr Theresa Tam said little goblins should take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
She also cautioned parents should listen to local public health authorities for advice on their particular communities.
Tam said outdoor trick-or-treating can be safe when people respect physical distancing, wear masks, use hand sanitizer and ensure treats are pre-packaged.
She noted a cloth mask can even be incorporated into some costumes.
Deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo said Halloween celebrations will vary across the country.
He also pointed to the way people creatively adapted to safely enjoy Thanksgiving as an example to follow.
COVID-19 response
Alberta provided a post-Thanksgiving update on its COVID-19 response.
In the last four days, the province reported four new cases and 10 recovered cases of COVID-19 in Wood Buffalo.
All are inside the urban service area, which has 23 active cases, one death, and 274 recoveries of the illness.
There are still three active cases and 64 resolved cases of COVID-19 outside the urban service area.
Fort McMurray Catholic School Division declared the outbreak situation at École St Paul over.
Principal Claudette Fidler said the province returned the school to ‘Alert 1’ status on Oct. 7.
“Alberta Health Services continues to work closely with Fort McMurray Catholic Schools to support and manage the safety of our schools. We will continue to be vigilant in our procedures to limit COVID-19 in our community. “
The FMCSD has five schools with between two and four cases linked to COVID-19, including Good Shepherd Community School.
Across Alberta, there are 961 new cases and four additional deaths linked to COVID-19 in the last 96 hours.
The province had 236 new cases on Oct. 9, 259 on Oct. 10, 246 on Oct. 11, and 220 on Oct. 12.
To date, 1444 active cases are in the Edmonton Zone.
Active alerts/outbreaks in 209 Alberta schools (or about 9% of all schools)
464 active cases in all.
88 schools have outbreaks, with 21 of those on watch list.
53 schools likely had in-school transmissions (with 33 only seeing a single new case)#yeg #yyc #ableg #covid19ab
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 13, 2020
Assessment centres will only accept tests by appointment province-wide.
Dr Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, said the move will make testing quicker and more efficient.
Alberta said citizens book 93 per cent of COVID-19 tests.
Alberta has 2615 active cases, 286 deaths, and 18,055 recoveries of COVID-19.
97 Albertans are in hospital with 13 in intensive care.
This article includes excerpts from the Canadian Press.
