Tickets issued for breaking COVID-19 related orders in Edmonton

More than a month after the City of Edmonton declared a state of local emergency, two tickets and dozens of warnings have been issued for COVID-19 public health order violations, the city said Tuesday.

As of Friday,one ticket was issued to a non-essential business and one ticket to an individual, Ashish Mohan, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email.

No details were available about the business or the individual.

The fine amounts were not specified, but the province announced at the end of March that fines would start at $1,000 for a first offence.

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The city's municipal enforcement and peace officers are working with Edmonton police, fire services and Alberta Health Services inspectors to monitor the public's behaviour atfollowing physical distancing and self-isolation orders.

The collaboration, called the Health Compliance Task Team, has responded to and resolved 347 complaints of the 409 it's received since April6, the city said.

Last weekend, peace officers monitored more than 180 locations, including parks, off-leash dog areas, skateboard parks andplaygrounds.

Between Friday and Sunday, peace officers issued 58 warnings, mostly to people neglecting tokeep their dogs on leash.

On April2, the city announced that all dogs must be on leash in all public park areas.

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Theorder wasn't popular with many Edmontonians, which prompted interim city manager Adam Laughlin to say the Easter weekend would be a test for residents incomplying.

During the week of April13-19, through 311 and an online tracking system, the city received 114 complaints related to physical distancing concerns.

Data is being mapped for "hot spots" which will be patrolled by officers when appropriate, Mohan said.

Since the end of March, Alberta Health Services has ordered three gyms in Edmonton to close, the most recent on April9, according to the AHS website.

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