ALBERTA DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
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Latest on COVID-19 Alberta nightclubs, pubs, bars will be closed. Sit down restaurants will remain open in Alberta for now (but with limits). All gatherings of more than 50 people should be cancelled.
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Vol. 15, No. 16, Wednesday, March 18, 2020 www.LamontLeader.com
COVID-19 pandemic shutting down Lamont area, Alberta, Canada By John Mather & Jana Semeniuk Coronavirus! It’s the dreaded word floating around on everyone’s lips as the flulike pandemic sweeps the world. Alberta is no exception and for the past several days updates from Alberta Health officials have painted a more dire picture with each announcement. On Sunday, it was reported all schools and daycares would be closed until further notice. Lamont County schools affected are in the Elk Island School division and include Lamont Elementary and High Schools, Mundare School, Andrew School and Bruderheim School. As of Mar. 13, all communities in the County were on alert, but had not yet moved to shut down all public facilities. That changed Mar. 16. Lamont County has now announced its public administration and public works offices will be closed to the public in order to limit public interaction with staff. Any questions from the public should be sent via phone or email to County offices. In Chipman town official Keiron Willis stated the community is prepared to handle any emergencies that may arise. “That’s one thing thats really good about being in a small town,” she said. “We have a number of people who are past town employees and if necessary, we could call on them to help out. “We have past public works members and past councillors who have said we can call on them and we have strong ties with our neighbouring communities, and I’m sure we could call on them.” She added the Chipman National
Hall can double as an emergency operations centre. She said it has emergency generators and a commercial kitchen, so “we could supply services from there, something like a meals on wheels operation.” Other Lamont County communities all stressed their relationships with their neighbours when it came to helping one another out if the emergency grows. “Our plan is, if we need to, we will shut down the office,” said Mundare Chief Administrative Officer, Colin Zyla. “We’ll maintain doing those things which have to be done, such as taking our daily water samples and things like that.” He said the town would be getting information out to its residents about how to deal with the crisis and what services would remain available. “We’ve also reached out to our neighbours about sharing resources and personnel in the event, if say, someone’s grader operator is unavailable, someone else can fill in.” Zyla said town staff had met last week to discuss the situation and talk about how to work around any situations where people may have to be away. He said it will further be discussed at the Mar. 17 council meeting. “We’re just trying to mitigate it as best as we can,” he said “Until the situation resolves itself.” At Lamont County, CAO Stephen Hill said the County will be able to handle any natural emergency such as a major snow storm or utility issue fairly well. “The majority of our truck drivers can handle graders and we a have a number of seasonal driver who could also be put on call,” he said. “Being able to have a number of people to operate multiple pieces of
equipment means we have staff resources.” He added the County had a preparedness plan, where the Family and Community Services and Community Adult Learning Centre would assess their programs and probably cancel courses until a future date. The exception is for essential programming such as the County of Lamont Food Bank, which will remain accessible to those in need. Alberta Approved Family Day Homes are exempt from provincial restrictions and are allowed to remain open for now; however, individual providers may close if they choose. CALC is taking steps to move to online delivery of programming, and to ensure those most vulnerable to job loss are supported. “We’ll tie them in with the spring break program and if they need to be shut down longer, then they will be. We’ll align our decisions along with the provincial and federal regulations,” added Hill. In a press released sent out Mar. 16, the County reiterated, “The risk in our region is currently deemed to be low. If the local risk level changes and there are further steps to be taken locally, the Lamont County website (www.lamontcounty.ca) and social media sites (Facebook and Twitter) will be updated with the information. Bruderheim officials have stated they are more experienced to deal with the crisis now, than it was when the last major health outbreak occurred. “Ten years ago, the H1N1 outbreak was the last pandemic declared by the World Health Organization. The province of Alberta was not as experienced with emergency management then as they are now,” said Patty
Podoborozny, Chief Administrative Officer for the town. “I think they are doing an excellent job. We are getting updates every two days by conference calls with Alberta Health Services and they are directing us.” Podoborozny added that business continuity is the biggest priority for the town in making sure residents are getting what they need. “We need to make sure service levels in town don’t drop,” she said. “We will also be putting out information around town for people who might not be connected online.” Local businesses, including the town office, have also installed hand sanitizing stations near their doorways in an effort to help stop the spread of the virus. Christine Beveridge, town of Lamont Chief Administrative Officer, stated that in Lamont they are also monitoring the situation and making preparations. “We are currently following the Alberta Health Information and watching the situation closely. We have created a business continuity plan to ensure that services can be continued for the residents,” she said. Lamont town mayor, Bill Skinner, added that contingency plans are being created including the way weekly quality testing will be done for the public water supply. “We have just entered into an agreement with Bruderheim, Chipman, Mundare and Andrew as far as water management goes. So, if any of our employees become ill or have to be quarantined, there will be someone qualified to provide that critical service.” Continued on Page 2