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Pandemic

Rocky Mountain House responds to COVID-19-UPDATE

Mar 17, 2020 | 12:57 PM

The Town of Rocky Mountain House has held two meetings to address growing community concerns and changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Town of Rocky Mountain House is taking steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in accordance with recommendations and directives from Alberta Health,” said Mayor Tammy Burke.

Council has chosen to activate its Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC), meaning council and staff will be meeting daily to implement measures on a local level to try to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

During their March 13 Special Council Meeting, council chose to follow Alberta Health Services (AHS) recommendations and increase hand sanitizer and disinfecting procedures in all public facilities within the Town of Rocky.

Town officials say they are taking steps to implement no-contact guidelines for staff, develop a business-continuity plan to maintain town services, and restrict events with more than 250 expected attendees in local facilities (Alberta has recently changed that to 50 province wide). A refund or credit is being offered for any organizations that had booked a town facility for an event cancelled due to the virus.

All Town-organized events and booking will be evaluated against public health agency criteria to determine if they should proceed.

After March 17 latest update from Premiere Jason Kenney, further steps have been taken.

The Christenson Sports and Wellness Centre has officially been closed to the public.

The Credit Union Co-op Aquatic Centre has now also been closed to the public.

Rocky continues to take AHS recommendations and increased the frequency of cleaning in facilities and public spaces.

While facilities stay open, it has been recommended to staff and members to practice social distancing, which includes but is not limited to, working from home, avoiding not essential trips, limit group gatherings and spend time in settings where people can maintain a 1-2 meters distance from each other.