Coun. Ramona Robins, appearing on the video screen, told council's Tuesday's meeting she is recovering from COVID-19 infection and called on hatters to support each other and avoid stigmatizing those who have had it.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
City councillor Ramona Robins told council on Tuesday she is recovering from COVID-19 and asked Hatters to reach out and support those who are bearing the brunt of the disease.
Speaking via online video call, Robins said she is triple vaccinated and her symptoms were mild and are now resolving.
She called on everyone to consider helping a growing number of Hatters who have the disease, those who are helping to treat it, and those who have lost loved ones.
“I’ve also thought about all the people who have lost their lives in Medicine Hat due to COVID,” she said.
“We have not spent a lot of time talking about that. I’d ask you, that if you know someone who has lost someone due to COVID, that you reach out to them. This wave may be scary to them in a way that’s not the same (for others).
“Please reach out and make sure your friends are OK.”
After a deadly fall that saw 56 fatalities related to the coronavirus, Medicine Hat is again seeing increased case numbers, council heard during a presentation by city director of emergency management Merrick Brown.
In his first address to new council elected in October, Brown said he typically prepares for a Monday night address to council using the previous Friday’s figures.
This time, between the previous provincial update on Dec. 28 and new figures announced just before Tuesday’s meeting, the Hat’s active case load rose from 135 to 321.
The provincial case count doubled to 34,300, fuelled by the more transmissible Omicron variant.
“It’s the most drastic change I’ve seen in almost two years of the pandemic,” he said. “We all thought we’d be out of this, but here we are going on.”
He stressed that the population may be better positioned against a fifth wave considering vaccination level, but that everyone should heed calls to limit contacts, stay at home with any symptoms and get vaccinated to avoid worst outcomes and preserve health care capacity.
That was echoed by Robins, who campaigned in October with the statement that city elected officials should lead an “honest conversation about COVID.”
She told the News that as a former Crown prosecutor, she had the ability to broach difficult but necessary conversations.
Her council colleagues stated their support for her and her sentiment, with Coun. Robert Dumanowski calling her speech “courageous.”
“I know that people fear COVID, and are very fearful of getting stigmatized,” he said. “It’s not new anymore, but when we have people who talk about COVID – like Coun. Robins is – we don’t normalize COVID, but we normalize the person who has COVID.”
Coun. Allison Knodel also lauded Robins, and said her message is for Hatters to “be kind” to each other in person and online.
Robins said she believes she acquired the virus at a family Christmas dinner that included six adults along with children.
She spent the next few days “snuggled up” with her twin girls during the school break, before a fever presented itself, but her children have not acquired the disease.
“They’re safe, which is a tremendous relief as a parent,” she said, adding she herself has support and can stay isolated.
Others need that help, she said, especially as cases rise in the city.
“My experience has been mild,” she said. “I’ve certainly had head colds that are worse, and I attribute that to the vaccine. If you’re not yet vaccinated yourself, give some thought to how you can make this illness milder on yourself. It’ll help you and the health care system.”
Tuesday saw a return of a COVID situation briefing to council as the number of Omicron variant cases rises in the province and in Medicine Hat.
Brown told council during the presentation that the highly transmissible virus is creating a “fifth wave” and gave new council an overview of business continuity plans.
He said each department has a contingency plan to maintain essential service with a 30 per cent absentee rate, or draw employees from other departments.
The city conducts its own contact tracing, has internal isolation rules, (for example, unvaccinated staff who contract COVID are subject to an internal 14-day isolation period), and a city rapid testing program is in place for essential workers.
“Even though the definition of close contact doesn’t really exist from the province any more, it still exists with us,” said Brown.
“It’s a risk management exercise … the ultimate goal is to limit disruption to our essential service delivery.”
