GPRC COVID-19 Update

March 16, 2020

On Thursday, March 12, Alberta Health Services released new Public Health restrictions asking organizers to cancel any events that have more than 250 attendees due to the rising affect of the COVID-19 outbreak. Consequently, the Greater Parkland Regional Chamber of Commerce (GPRC) has cancelled any existing lunches, Chamber on Tap type events and refrain from booking new ones for the foreseeable future

The staff of the GPRC are working with vendors for April's Tri-Expo & MARKETPLACE to secure alternative dates. We do not have any information confirmed at this time, but we will communicate details to our members and exhibitors once we are able.

As the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to evolve, the challenge is understanding how to effectively deal with the outbreak. Managing the public health risk for infectious diseases is the responsibility of Alberta Health Services, but business owners need to be prepared for the potential impacts that COVID-19 could have on their operations. We have compiled a list of helpful resources for your convenience. We will continue to update our website with helpful resources.

We urge all in the community to follow guidelines from local public health officials.

The well-being of our staff, members and community partners is of the utmost importance and for this reason we will be implementing a number of new temporary policies and procedures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The situation with COVID-19 is evolving rapidly with new developments each day. Although the risk remains relatively low in Alberta, our primary operational focus is to reduce unnecessary risk of exposure to the illness for vulnerable individuals in our community.

Novel coronaviruses, like COVID-19, are new strains of the virus that have not been previously identified in humans. This means people have no immunity against it and there is no specific vaccine or treatment. In some ways, COVID-19 is similar to influenza (also known as the flu). They both cause respiratory disease in people who get sick and are spread by small droplets from the nose and mouth but are NOT spread through the air over long distances. However, there are some key differences between COVID-19 and the flu: COVID-19 does not appear to transmit as efficiently as influenza as only those with symptoms seem to spread the disease, controlling spread is possible when people with symptoms are isolated. COVID-19 causes severe disease and mortality in more cases than the flu. On average there is about 1-2 deaths per 100 people infected with COVID-19, compared to 1 death in every 1,000 people with the flu. Because COVID-19 can cause such a serious illness, it is critical to keep it from spreading by having people with a cough or fever stay home and away from others in order to protect vulnerable community members like seniors or those with compromised immune systems. With no vaccine or other treatment – we are each other’s best defense.

My team will be working from home and our event calendar has been postponed for the foreseeable future. Please be assured that whilst we may not be available face to face; myself and my team are available via email and telephone. Please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 780 963 4545 – 587 921 8558. Our office hours remain Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm.

We will ensure that we are posting up to date information from AHS and the Provincial & Federal Governments

Thank you and please do not hesitate to contact us,