Municipal facilities staying open
Officials say co-ordinated approach involving community partners underway
Civic facilities will remain open in Saskatoon and city officials maintain the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains low despite Ottawa’s warning that more than 25 million Canadians could be infected with the virus amid a global pandemic.
Speaking to reporters at city hall on Thursday as the number of confirmed cases nationwide climbed past 100, Saskatoon’s director of emergency management described that as a “worst-case scenario” and “not necessarily what will happen.”
“One of the things we’re trying to do is focus our decision-making on locally what is happening … We have to make decisions about how we want to live our life in Saskatoon for the next few months,” Pamela Goulden-mcleod said.
“We don’t want to make any quick decisions that we haven’t considered all the ramifications of,” she added, noting the city is planning for additional cases so “whatever comes, we’ll be prepared to deal with (it).”
Cities across North America are cancelling public events, banning mass gatherings, and closing facilities and schools.
Alberta, which reported its 23rd case of COVID-19 on Thursday, banned most gatherings of 250 people or more.
Goulden-mcleod said those decisions are likely based on different levels of infection risk in different areas.
Saskatchewan reported its first presumptive case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Thursday morning, hours after organizers pulled the plug on the Juno Awards and related events.
The Saskatchewan case, a person in their 60s who recently travelled to Egypt, was tested in Saskatoon.
As the federal government unveiled a $1-billion package for a variety of measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Wednesday it is “safe to assume” between 30 and 70 per cent of Canadians could contract COVID -19. That means between 11.3 million and 26.3 million people could be infected.
Goulden-mcleod said the city increased its emergency operations centre status to level two, a decision she noted “sounds like a really big deal” but involves more sharing of information and additional conference calls with other “community partners.”
“That provides a co-ordinated approach so that we all hear the same information, and we can make decisions based on the best information and the most recent information,” she said.
She went on to note that civic facilities, such as leisure centres and libraries will remain open.
Four members of the Saskatoon Fire Department, meanwhile, remain under a “precautionary quarantine” after assisting a patient who complained about shortness of breath and was later discovered to have been tested for COVID-19.
The results of that test are expected Friday morning.
Fire Chief Morgan Hackl told reporters that will determine the department’s next steps, such as testing the quarantined firefighters if the original patient is confirmed to have the disease.
“Currently, there’s been no effect on response times,” Hackl said, adding that he believes firefighters can take additional precautions to guard against contracting the coronavirus without affecting their ability to respond to emergencies.
We don’t want to make any quick decisions that we haven’t considered all ramifications of ... whatever comes, we’ll be prepared to deal with (it).