Banff mayor points to shared housing for rise in COVID-19 infections in mountain town

BANFF (660 NEWS) — The mayor of Banff is pointing towards the town’s shared housing as to why there has been an increase in COVID-19 infections there.

Currently, Banff has the second-highest infection rate of the virus in Alberta, with just Wood Buffalo sitting higher.

The Fort McMurray area overtakes Banff as Alberta's COVID hot spot per capita.

Calgary now at 491.4 cases per 100k.

Edmonton at 346.1#yeg #yyc #ableg #covid19ab pic.twitter.com/OBjqJNV45Q

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) April 22, 2021

“We do know that over 25 employers in town have people in isolation or are close contacts, it’s disturbing that we can’t identify specifically where the spread is and the numbers continue to grow,” said Banff mayor Karen Sorenson.

She adds that many of these employees live in close contact with other employees which is another cause of concern for the town.

“We, of course, have a lot of people who live in common housing here, staff housing, and that has become another very serious issue in terms of the spread,” she said.

She says the town is working with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to get as many vaccinations into the community as possible.

The town also has a couple of hotels working as isolation centres in an effort to control the spread of the virus.