The central office for the Rural Municipalities of Buckland and Prince Albert is located in Prince Albert at 99 River St. E . (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

COVID-19

Possible COVID case turns out negative

Mar 16, 2020 | 2:33 PM

The Rural Municipalities (R.M.) of Prince Albert and Buckland remain COVID-19 free, following news of a false alarm.

The decision was made Sunday night to close the central office on River Street because a person who recently travelled abroad was undergoing testing for COVID-19. The person was in contact with several employees and members of council for both municipalities. R.M. of Prince Albert Reeve Eric Schmalz said the results have come back early.

“We were expecting results by Tuesday and they ended up coming in today. It’s come back negative and it’s just a regular influenza virus,” he explained.

In addition to the R.M. of Prince Albert, the building also acts as the main office for the R.M. of Buckland and the Prince Albert Rural Water Utility. Schmalz said sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“We didn’t want to take any chances with members of the public and some of our own council members that seemed to be more susceptible to this virus,” he said.

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As a result of the good news the doors to the central office will re-open to the public Tuesday morning and the R.M. of Prince Albert’s scheduled meeting on Thursday can go ahead as planned

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell