Very Important Recommendations Regarding COVID-19 Prevention and Preparedness
Memo to: People we Support, Families, Guardians and Skills Society Employees
Re: Very Important Recommendations Regarding COVID-19 Prevention and Preparedness
From: Senior Leadership of Skills Society
November 10, 2020 Update
Everyone Needs to be Vigilant with Safeguards to Prevent Spread of COVID-19
As you know, COVID-19 rates are increasing in the province and our city, and the rising spread and rate of increase is extremely concerning according to Health Authorities. On November 7th, 2020, 919 new cases were identified in Alberta - this is the highest number recorded since the start of the pandemic. As of November 8th, 2020 there are 7,965 active cases in Alberta, with 3,175 in Edmonton. More than ever we all need to do our part to follow city and provincial health orders and recommendations. It is a non-negotiable expectation that all of our employees follow all COVID-19 policies and procedures. This keeps people as safe as possible.
Numbers remain low at Skills Society
As of today and since August we have had 5 individuals we serve, and 8 employees test positive for COVID-19. Procedures were followed and swift action taken as soon as people became aware of a positive result from Health Authorities.
COVID-19 Edmonton Zone Public Health Measures
On November 6, 2020 the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) announced the following new voluntary public health measure for the Edmonton zone: stop holding social gatherings in private homes. As of October 26, 2020, all private social gatherings are limited to a maximum of 15 people regardless of whether the gathering is fully or partially indoors or outdoors. Additional voluntary measures include limiting cohorts to no more than 3 and wearing a mask in all indoor work settings. For more information click here.
Skills Society Current Recommendations
As per the voluntary public health measures, Skills Society is recommending that the people we serve do not host anyone at their home who does not live with them. We also currently recommend while the numbers are so high in community, that people we support and guardians rethink what they deem essential outings. We know this is hard, but it is the safest at present. This is our current recommendation based on health information and we recognize that people we serve and guardians have rights and responsibilities in their decisions.
If the numbers of COVID-19 cases do not decline dramatically, it is likely that additional health measures from the province will come in order to protect our health care system.
Very critical is nobody, and we really mean nobody should come to work if feeling sick, or having even mild symptoms of COVID-19.The province is seeing a high number of active cases where people who were symptomatic with mild symptoms attended work and/or social events. In Edmonton, 9% of active cases worked with symptoms (November 5, 2020). This is very concerning.
We are all in this together. Following Skills procedures, City bylaws, and public health measures and recommendations helps to keep people safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thank you to everyone for the amazing job you’re doing to follow our health and safety and COVID-19 procedures. Please know that we are working our hardest to keep the people we serve and our staff as safe as possible.
Sincerely,
Senior Leadership Team
For More Information
If you are a family or guardian and require additional information please be in touch with the manager associated with your loved one’s support.
If you are a Skills Employeeand require additional information you can be in touch with your supervisor or Pandemic Coordinators, Linda or Ed at 780-496-9686.
Keep up to date on our COVID-19 Resources section on our website: https://skillssociety.ca/covid19-resources/.
Previous Public Memos
Public Memos are available on our website under the ‘news’ tab.
August 18th Board of Directors COVID-19 Update →
August 21st Sharing Further Health Recommendations on Ways to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 →
September 2nd A Message from Skills Society’s Pandemic Coordinator →
September 11th Ways That We Can All Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 →
September 18th COVID-19 Update →
October 30th COVID-19 Update →
Note: What’s happening with COVID-19 is changing rapidly. We become aware of new information from the provincial and federal governments and health authorities on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. We are working hard to be responsive to this new information as it becomes available. As such, information in this memo may change and quickly become outdated. We are doing our best to communicate new information to the people we support, families, guardians, and staff in a timely manner.