City says no state of emergency yet for Medicine Hat

According to Brown, that was a major factor in deciding not to enact state of emergency measures like Calgary has done.

“We have the ability to do that,” said Brown. “But, we need to be very conscientious when we do that. We have to have a well thought out and justified process as to when we enact a state of local emergency, and we’re not there yet.”

This comes just after the City shut the door to most of their public buildings over the weekend including the Family Leisure Centre, Veiner Centre, Esplanade, and Kinplex.

“This was not in relation to any sort of confirmed case in Medicine Hat,” said Brown. “We are doing this out of an abundance of caution. We are doing this to support our public, support our own employees, and support the province in their effort to prevent the mass gatherings.”

However, the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program operated out of the Veiner Centre is still operational and has not been impacted by COVID-19.

Essential services such as electric generation, water treatment, and police and fire services have not seen staffing levels greatly affected yet and residents shouldn’t notice any major changes in terms of level of service.

“They haven’t been impacted from a staffing issue with this one,” said Brown. “But, we wanted to enact our business continuity planning processes, which we have, to ensure that we don’t get to that point.”

One of the few City buildings to remain open on Monday is City Hall, which is slated to stay open for the foreseeable future.

Staff working inside have been advised to practice social distancing and work from home where possible, while Brown said they have continuity plans in place if it becomes necessary to close to the public.

“It is business as usual here,” he said. “But, there are obviously alternate methods in which you can actually do business with the City. If the risk level does change, we will still provide that opportunity for that connection with the City and through City Hall.”

Local businesses have been encouraged to create their own emergency continuity plans while dealing with COVID-19 and the loss in revenue that is expected for many shops.

Mayor Ted Clugston also spoke at Monday’s media availability and urged residents to step up and inject whatever money they can into the local economy.

“If you can, help support some of our local businesses,” said Clugston. “They are struggling right now. If you can help them, in whatever way that is still responsible, please do that.”

Clugston also asked residents to stay calm and provide assistance to their neighbours where possible, especially for seniors or those with compromised immune systems.

“Get groceries for them or whatever they need, their pharmaceuticals, shovel their walk if need be,” he said. “If everybody helps out one neighbour, we’ll all be fine. We’ve got single parents now who are without child care who may still have to go to work. If you can somehow help them out as well, that would be great.”

The Medicine Hat Regional Airport is currently seeing no operational changes, while residents are encouraged to limit attendance at future Medicine Hat Council meetings by watching live streams or by reading meeting minutes.

“We have robust plans in the City and we will get through this,” said Brown.

by Scott Roblin & Alex McCuaig

City says no state of emergency yet for Medicine Hat

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