Brooks City Hall. (City of Brooks)

By David Opinko

Brooks to take “far more aggressive approach to enforcement” following COVID-19 outbreak

Apr 20, 2020 | 12:22 PM

BROOKS, AB – The City of Brooks only has a population of 14,451 as of the 2016 federal census, but it has more than two-thirds of all COVID-19 cases in the South Health Zone.

On Sunday, LNN reported that 102 people had tested positive in the community, rising from just three on Thursday.

We spoke to the Mayor of Brooks, Barry Morishita, about how the numbers have grown so much in just a few days.

Since the majority of infections being the result of community transmission, he believes some residents are not taking the situation seriously.

“I think there are some who are taking a cavalier attitude about social distancing and gatherings, and we certainly have some incidents where groups are getting together where they shouldn’t be, and I think it’s just carelessness, it’s a lack of responsibility.”

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Although Morishita could not give an exact number, many local cases occurred at the JBS Food meat packing plant or were instances where employees transmitted it to someone connected to them.

The mayor has not heard whether or not the company plans to temporarily close their facility down like McDonald’s and KFC have.

One case has been linked to an employee at a local continuing care centre, but has not expanded beyond that.

In an effort to limit further spread of the virus, Morishita says the city is looking to be “a lot more stringent in our enforcement.”

“We’re under a State of Local Emergency here in the City of Brooks. I’m not afraid of using that authority if we have problems that seem to not be able to be rectified by educating people.”

Municipalities are able to issue fines to residents or businesses that are not complying with public health orders and have the ability to shut facilities down if necessary. These are not steps the municipality has taken yet.

At this time, he assured that he is not considering putting the community under lockdown, as it would severely limit the movement of all peoples.

“We have a lot of people who are being very responsible, doing what’s right when going outdoors, you know, respecting the social distancing, and then we have some that aren’t. I would rather use a targeted approach to that. We have enforcement tools that we are going to ramp up now because of the people that aren’t.”

The city’s police officers and community peace officers are regularly touring the community and doing daily checkups on businesses to ensure they are following the rules.

Morishita says everyone needs to do their part, and if they do, this will all be over much sooner.

“This is not something that you get time off from that you can do with your neighbour just because you know your neighbour. I understand the frustration, but if we want to end the frustration sooner, we have to pay attention. The rules apply everywhere.”

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