Thread by @Tommy_Slick

Yet another City of Calgary update on the COVID-19 response is coming up in about ten minutes at the Emergency Operations Centre, however Mayor Nenshi is still working to wrap up a council session right now. May get delayed a bit here. Tweets in this thread. #yyc

Council meeting has wrapped. I now picture the mayor being whisked away and zoomed up to the EOC. Good thing there's no traffic.

We are now underway after a delay. Nenshi beginning with condolences about the Calgarians who died over the weekend. Repeating same message about reducing the spread

Says there's a lot of news today. CEMA Chief Tom Sampson starts it off. Firstly, he addresses Dr. Tam's advisory on masks today. He says physical distancing is still more important for everyone who doesn't have the virus. Can't just go to a party if you're wearing a mask.

Actual medical masks are for professionals. City will be posting something from the CDC on how to make a mask. Again this is not mandatory though. Sampson is awaiting more directives from Alberta Health (maybe something today).

Sampson addressing questions about carpooling. It's okay to be in a car with other people, but try to space out by having a passenger in the back seat. Need to be cautious if in a car with people you don't live with.

But there are no provisions under the health act for ticketing people who go to a store together. Any rumours about being ticketed about this are false. CPS have issued three tickets so far, but for people blatantly disobeying the rules.

As mentioned last week, pickup schedule for trash bins changed today. Details on city website.

Chief bylaw officer up now with an update from their end. On monitoring physical distance guidelines, Chief Pleckaitis says most people get the message but they are ready to give fines in extenuating circumstances. Staff are out looking for violators.

Now Melanie Husker with Calgary Neighbourhoods. A new resource being launched (calgary.ca/CSPS/Pages/At-…) to help families figure out what to do now that you're all forced to spend the days together.

Also links to things like online concerts, webinars, internet museum tours. Interactive activity kits can be delivered to families who don't have internet access.

Fire Chief Dongworth is up too. Talking about the drive by birthdays program. Already have 5,000 (!) requests for this service. A 95 year old lady scheduled to get a visit tomorrow

Dongworth says we need to be patient, obviously tons of requests. And again, emergencies will take priority so maybe not everyone will get a fire truck visit

Nenshi wants us to download a garbage app to help with the trash schedule. City has a waste and recycling app to help you out.

Street sweepers are also going to do their work soon, so remember to move cars off the street. City will be a bit more lenient on tickets if you're going to double park or something to get your vehicle out of the way

Nenshi giving a shout out to volunteers helping out. Talks about a program run by University students to deliver students. Just advising them to stay safe

Giving clarification on the closures around the city. Unless it's an essential service or you're a critical volunteer type operation, you need to be locked down. And, if you need to get supplies for the family, only one person goes. Don't bring the whole fam

This is in response to people asking him why the city isn't just totally quarantined. Again, we need to be smart here and limit our adventures outside the home unless they're critical

Nenshi talking about the Arlene Dickinson pledge to donate cash to the food bank. Their tweet has reached the goal of 10K retweets.

Coming up on the city council docket this afternoon, there will be talk of financial assistance to homeowners and businesses. Says they're in a bad spot. Upwards of $15 million lost per week. There will be a proposal to take away worry of property tax payments though.

If you can pay all or a portion, do that. But the city will be deferring payments until later this year if you can't. No interest. No penalties. Similar to utility payment deferrals. More deets coming later when council resumes at 2pm

Now we're to the questions. First, on the provincial isolation benefit (which is now closed). How do you feel about the program? Nenshi says they were thoughtful and generous, only meant to stopgap the federal government benefit. Encourages people to sign up for #CERB

For Chief Sampson, detail those CPS tickets given? Sampson can't really speak for them. There's been at least five tickets issued on the orders in the Calgary area. No specific details from him.

How did people perform this weekend? Sampson says he is encouraged by our behaviour. People showing blatant disregard are being dealt with.

Next question on the tickets again. Again only police can tell us what the circumstances were for the tickets. Nenshi says the police are taking this very seriously though.

Last question about self isolation units for homeless Calgarians. Any cases in the population? Nenshi not aware of any but it's crucial to mitigate it as it could spread quickly. Along with overflow shelters, a hotel has stepped up to offer isolation if someone is symptomatic.

And we're done. Next update on Wednesday. There will be news in council this afternoon on money stuff.