As of Tuesday, March 1, COVID-19 restrictions were removed from all town facilities, as the Alberta Government announced the move to Step 2 of its plan to lift provincial health restrictions. The Ponoka Arena Complex will return to full capacity and masks are no longer required in town facilities.
The Aquaplex and Hudson’s Green Nature and Activity Centre had already returned to full capacity in early February when the Alberta Government announced Step 1 of the easing of health restrictions. For the past few weeks, the Ponoka Arena Complex had been considered a ‘large facility’ under Step 1, which had required the facility to operate at 50 per cent of fire code capacity.
While provincial health restrictions will no longer be in place at town facilities, Town of Ponoka Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Lund said the transition to getting life ‘back to normal’ may take time.
“We expect some people will want to continue wearing masks for a while depending on their comfort level. We encourage citizens and visitors at all town facilities to please be respectful of people’s personal choices,” she said in a release.
Hand sanitizer stations will continue to be available as people enter town facilities. Visitors to town facilities are encouraged to continue physically distancing from other households and are asked to please stay home if they are feeling unwell.
Signage at all town facilities which outlines public health measures will be removed over the coming days. If you have any questions about COVID-19 regulations at Town of Ponoka facilities, please phone the town office at 403-783-4431.
For more information on current provincial health regulations, including information about getting vaccinated, please visit www.alberta.ca/COVID19.