EDMONTON -- Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson has called an emergency city council meeting for Friday morning to determine the city's plans to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement comes hours after the province announced an aggressive new approach to containing COVID-19 including the cancellation of any gatherings of 250 or more people.
Iveson spoke to reporters on Thursday afternoon and said that the city was following the province's medical advice including asking city rec centres to cancel programs with "a large number of attendees."
"Though there is no need to panic at this time we need to act with caution. This is a serious health issue," said Iveson.
"Each of us can do our part to help limit the spread."
Interim City Manager Adam Laughlin described the situation as "fluid" and that further direction will come out of Friday morning's council meeting, including a decision on closing all rec centres.
In accordance with the province's recommendations, the city is asking taking a number of measures including asking staff who travelled outside the country to self-isolate for 14 days, cancelling all business travel, and finalizing "social distance" procedures.
"These are trying times for all of us," said Laughlin. "What's top of mind for me is our staff ... keeping them safe is our priority."
Laughlin said the provincial health authority has no timetable for when things will return to normal.
Earlier Thursday, Iveson told reporters that the city will prioritize things like water treatment, policing and fire response should precautions force the city to scale back other services.
"All of those things need maintained," Iveson said. "Obviously this is serious, it has global reach and it's starting to touch us in ways that matter to us."
