The City of Regina laid out its strategy for responding to COVID-19 on Friday.
Mayor Michael Fougere explained that just because there aren’t any presumptive cases of COVID-19 in the city, doesn’t mean that they can’t be cautious and be prepared.
“I want to ensure Regina residents that we have a plan in place, we are prepared as a city,” said Fougere. “It is a strong and robust response that we’re developing.”
The Mayor added that the city is working closing with the Saskatchewan Health Authority in order to roll out their plan accordingly.
“I have confidence in what we’re doing, and our collective response so far,” said Fougere. “Our priority as a city, absolutely, is the health and safety and the protection of all Regina residents.”
Fougere, along with City Manager Chris Holden, are stressing that the city will strive to keep essential services like water, wastewater, and emergency services running.
In terms of events in the community, including the upcoming city council meeting, the plan is business as usual, but Fougere added those plans could change any minute.
City Manager Holden emphasized that the approach towards battling COVID-19 needs to be a unified one.
“At the end of the day, we are all in this together,” said Holden. “We are focused on the health and well-being of the community.”
Holden announced that the city has stepped up cleaning at city buildings as well as public transit, in an effort to try and stop the spread of the virus.
He added that the city has enacted a “no-travel” policy for it’s employees in order to keep essential services running.
“We’re putting travel bans in place, out of province travel, out of country travel, those things have ceased immediately,” said Holden. “We want to make sure we’re maintaining a workforce. At the end of the day, if we lose half of our work force because they have been exposed to coronavirus, have the coronavirus, or have to isolate for some reason, then we have to start to prioritize about service levels or services, so that we are in position to be able to continue.”
Regina Fire Chief Layne Jackson announced that the city has activated its Emergency Operation Centre.
Jackson said that the confirmation of the first case of COVID-19 in the province, doesn’t change the way the Fire Department responds to calls.
“It doesn’t change how we respond or what we respond to, but it does change our preparedness,” said Jackson.
Jackson added that no member of Regina Emergency Services has been ordered to test for COVID-19.
Anyone wanting more information on the city’s COVID-19 plan, can go to regina.ca/coronavirus or call the 777-7000 information line.
