Saskpro gym is one of a number of businesses that have to close or are facing restricted business protocols following the State of Emergency declared for Saskatchewan Wednesday (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom and Nigel Maxwell

COVID-19

P.A. responds to COVID-19 State of Emergency

Mar 18, 2020 | 5:24 PM

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne says he’s confident Prince Albert will pull through the COVID-19 pandemic as a community, but acknowledged the sobering reality that the local economy will be hit hard.

Dionne told paNOW he was pleased the province declared a State of Emergency on Wednesday afternoon, explaining P.A. had been working on shutting down private facilities like gyms and bingo halls that have now been mandated to close across the province. However, he was concerned for local businesses.

“My heart bleeds for them…I hate to say this, but some of our businesses, not only in our community, but in the province, are not going to survive this,” he said.

Encouraging residents to wash their hands and practice social distancing, Dionne said the public should be careful and also remember why such measures are important in the name of slowing the spread of COVID-19.

All restaurants, including this local McDonald’s, must limit their seating to 50 per cent of capacity or a maximum of 50 people, whichever is lesser. Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

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Dionne added he’s still waiting for clarity on some measures, including what parents with children in daycare are supposed to do. On Wednesday the government said information regarding daycare would be announced shortly.

But Dionne expressed confidence in the community’s resilience.

“We’re Northerners. We’re tough,” he said. “We’ve got through other crises that come to us: the uncontrolled wildfires a few years ago that caused evacuations, power outages, we’ve survived through them. We’ll come together as a community and get through this.”

Business response

The latest precautions by the province will have an impact on restaurants and gyms in Prince Albert.

All restaurants, bars and event venues must limit their seating to 50 per cent of capacity or up to a maximum of 50 people, whichever is lesser. All must be able to ensure social distance of one to two metres between customers. As of Monday, Montana’s restaurant was already offering take-out and Skip the Dishes delivery only. The dining room is closed.

(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Ken and Jan Malenfant manage the three McDonald’s locations in the city. Malenfant said drive-thru’s remain open 24 hours and the lobbies are open for walk-up orders only, no dine-in.

“This is an evolving plan, it’s changing every day,” he said, adding staff are doing an increased amount of cleaning and sanitizing.

“We’ve got sanitization stations at every contact point.”

Management at Mr. Mike’s restaurant told paNOW the bar and restaurant are closed for dine-in eating. Management was still finalizing whether take-out was going to be offered.

All gyms, fitness centres, casinos and bingo halls have been ordered to close until further notice. Carnival Bingo ceased operations at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. According to a voicemail message, management will re-evaluate the situation on March 30.

Many of the city’s gyms and fitness centres were already closed prior to Wednesday’s State of Emergency announcement, including Fitness for 10, Goodlife Fitness, Saskpro Crossfit and Pure Athletics.

Save on Foods response

Save on Foods is following the lead of other grocers in the city and allowing special shopping hours for people considered higher risk.

From 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. each morning, the store will be open for seniors, people with disabilities and others considered most vulnerable.

According to a statement Wednesday, the general operating hours are also being altered to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Management believes the change in hours will allow staff more time to clean, restock shelves, and serve customers.

Save-On-Foods is also encouraging those customers who can shop in store to do so and leave the online shopping services available to those who are not able to get to the store, including those who are ill or self-isolating.

–

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca