Just like Airdrie, smaller communities in southern Alberta are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and, one of the hardest hit with cases of the illness is the City of Chestermere.

The latest stats from Alberta Health show that the Chestermere area has reported 15 cases of coronavirus.  In a city of around 22,000 people, that's concerning to Mayor Marshall Chalmers.

"The 15 cases here in Chestermere are very troubling to me and I'm sure they're very troubling to most in our community."

Chalmers says the city has been doing everything in their power to keep people safe, sometimes implementing restrictions even before the province did.  "But, you know, that COVID-19 virus is the world's, and actually all humanity's fight actually, against an enemy we can't see.  So we must join together and collectively fight the spread of this disease."

Chalmers says they're doing that by having the RCMP, Community Peace Officers and Safety Officers patrolling businesses and public areas to monitor compliance of the mandatory sanitary measures and physical distancing practices.  Chalmers explains they'd prefer to partner with the community to share information and educate people on what's expected, but sometimes they may have to take further steps.

"Overall, I'd have to say that we're very pleased both with businesses and the population trying to follow the rules, but you always see those, for some reason,  who don't want to or don't know, and it'd be hard to believe they don't know.  We are clamping down but I'd have to say that our community has been very, very positive in supporting our initiatives."

Chalmers also wants to draw attention to an ongoing concern with curbside waste recycling.  He says it's likely happening in other communities as well as people are told to hunker down and stay home during the crisis.  

"With that," Chalmers explains," "comes a lot more activity around the house and we're seeing a lot more garbage being placed out when it's garbage pickup and that's putting our operators at risk."

The city has instructed operators not to handle any loose garbage.  Overfilled carts have been causing loose waste that's scattered In the pickup process.

Chalmers says they're asking the community to no overfill their carts and ensure that all items fit inside and the lid can close.  Residents should not leave additional bags beside the carts as operators won't pick them up.

According to the Mayor, the COVID catchphrase is 'we're all in this together,' and that's the message he wants to get across.  "I've been pushing out messages every day/  'We're in this together,' we can beat this if we all work together and follow the provincial guidelines and even the guidelines that we've put in place."

Anyone looking for Chestermere's guidelines can go to chestermere.ca/covid19.

A number of cases of COVID-19 have also been reported in other communities outside of Calgary. 

The Cochrane-Springbank area is reporting 12 cases, the same as Airdrie.  In Crossfield, one case has been reported while three cases have been detected in Didsbury and two in Olds. 

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