The Prince Albert Co-operative Health Centre. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

Closure

Prince Albert Co-operative Health Centre closed due to COVID-19 outbreak

Oct 15, 2020 | 10:22 AM

UPDATE: (Friday). The Co-operative Centre reported Friday the COVID-19 outbreak had ended and Public Health had cleared them to re-open. The health centre said it will be limiting in-clinic appointments and will continue to focus on virtual and telephone support whenever possible. All services will be available next week; however, some of their service delivery will be modified to ensure that we are proceeding with caution.

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A COVID-19 outbreak at Prince Albert’s Cooperative Health Centre on Eighth Street East has forced its continued closure to the general public. It was not immediately clear when the site will reopen but the entire facility has been inspected by Public Health.

“A thorough electrostatic cleaning of the whole health facility has been completed,” executive director Trina Ferguson told paNOW. “We have been cleared to bring back specific support staff into the building to manage our clients, such as for appointments.”

Currently clients are being looked after by phone or virtually.

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Asked when the business could reopen, Ferguson said her understanding was that Public Health needed to finish contact tracing.

Public Health said it could not comment on the reopen timeline nor the specific circumstances of the outbreak. However on the government website it says the declaration of a COVID-19 outbreak is used by Public Health to mobilize and coordinate a response to the infection. It is not necessarily an indicator of risk to the public. In non-household settings, an outbreak is confirmed when two or more people test positive for COVID-19.

The health centre said it was advised to close by Public Health on the public holiday Monday, so did not open for business as usual on Tuesday.

Closure updates will be posted on its website and Facebook page.

Ferguson said other businesses have had to go through this situation and they take all public safety protocols very seriously.

“The safety of our clients and our staff is of the upmost importance to us as an organization, and we want to make sure we are following all Public Health directives and guidelines,” she said.

The business posted a notice online on Tuesday, saying it closed due to a recent COVID outbreak. A notice was also posted on the main door.

Sign at the Prince Albert Co-operative Health Centre. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

The outbreak is the second one in Prince Albert in the last week following the outbreak declared at the Full Gospel Outreach church.

Editor’s note: this story was amended Thursday afternoon to reflect comment from management.

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panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow