Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City implementing further actions amidst COVID-19 pandemic, considering even more

Mar 18, 2020 | 1:00 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – UPDATE: City of Lethbridge declares State of Local Emergency

Original Story:

Officials from the City of Lethbridge say they are taking steps to ensure their workers and the general public are kept safe.

While the Government of Alberta issued a state of public health emergency Tuesday, the city has not.

Interim City Manager Jody Meli explains that some things that could trigger such a declaration include community transmission of COVID-19 in Lethbridge, if an “essential” staff member that is in regular contact with the public such as a transit driver or a firefighter tests positive, or extreme cases of price gouging throughout the community.

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At this time, Meli says they are implementing social distancing strategies among city employees while working to determine, in which departments people are able to work from home.

Since some staff members are currently in self-isolation or watching their kids at home, some employees have been shuffled around to cover any gaps.

For transit, the bus seats that are most immediately near the driver are being blocked off to limit potential contact with passengers. Those taking the bus are asked to exit the vehicle out of the back.

One piece of the province’s measures is to force the cancellations of public events with 50+ people, as well as prohibiting entrance to many facilities.

Mayor Chris Spearman says, if there is an individual or business that refuses to comply with these regulations, it is possible that the city might take action.

Meli, however, clarified that the provincial government would take the lead on cases such as this. Decisions would be made on a complaints-basis and that the municipality would only get involved at the province requests it.

During its announcement of an $82-billion financial aid package Wednesday morning, the federal government extended the deadlines for filing taxes and deferrals for some payments.

At this time, there have been no formal discussions within the City of Lethbridge on similar measures, but Spearman and Meli did not rule it out.

Spearman says Premier Jason Kenney spoke to him and other mid-sized city mayors on Monday about their strategies. On Wednesday afternoon, Spearman told media that he plans to discuss potential actions with the other mayors further.

While he emphasized the importance of social distancing and entering periods of self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor said not everyone is able to.

“The most vulnerable people are some of the people who are homeless, some of the people using the Supervised Consumption Site, and others, so how do we manage the situation if someone turns out to be positive and is living at the homeless shelter, for example, when they’re all living close together? The Premier has indicated that we might be using hotel rooms in the near future.”

The mayor said Lethbridge is fortunate that there are currently not a lot of cases of COVID-19 in the region, but he believes that more could be on their way as people return to Canada from other countries. As of Tuesday afternoon’s update, there was one confirmed case in the Alberta Health Service South Zone.

“We need to support each other as a community, we need to find ways that we can support our businesses, we need to find ways that we can support people who are going to struggle with self-isolation, people who have challenges in our city, the older people, people with physical challenges. We need to make sure everyone is supported,” concluded Spearman.