REGINA -- The City of Regina is closely monitoring the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and is prepared to take any measures necessary to keep the public and its staff safe and healthy.
The City is taking precautions with its 2,800 workers, who are asked to work from home if possible. All out of province travel for city workers has been stopped.
The City is working closely with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Ministry of Health as they navigate through the situation.
"Our priority as a city is absolutely the health and safety and protection of all Regina residents. We want to provide a continuity plan for services, essential services, that are critical no matter what happens. That means safe water, waste water, police, fire, all these services will remain in place no matter what happens," Mayor Michael Fougere said.
Regina Fire and Protective Services is also taking precautions and has activated its emergency operations centre.
It's the fourth time over the past few years the centre has been activated. The others times were:
- December 2018 Sask. power outage
- July 2019 Pikangikum evacuation
- October 2019 storm event in Winnipeg
The fire chief says that doesn't change their response, or what they respond to, but it does change their level of preparedness.
"It creates a forum and a structure of organization that we bring all the different departments and different agencies into the room and we have interoperability there, and we have an organized approach to handling crisis or emergencies within the community,” Regina Fire and Protective Services Chief Layne Jackson said.
The City will update its website regularly to keep the public updated on what they need to know.
Imagine Regina, the I Love Regina Run, all Evraz Place events, the Saskatchewan Economic Development Conference, city council meetings will continue to be discussed.
