Fort Nelson – COVID – March 18

CANCELLATIONS:

Northern Lights Festival March 12-21 – all public events cancelled

Fort Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce Trade show

Northern Rockies Fire Rescue Annual Firefighter Appreciation Banquet

CLOSURES:

Northern Rockies Regional Recreation Centre: building CLOSED to the public – all programs cancelled beginning March 18, 2020)

Northern Rockies Regional Aquatic Centre

Northern Rockies Fire Rescue: closed to the public

Airport Way Medical Clinic: message

Fort Nelson Visitor Information Centre

Fort Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce: closed to the public

Fort Nelson Public Library

Phoenix Theatre

Fort Nelson Family Development Society: Daycare, preschool, Tot Spot and Pop Up playgroups cancelled, office closed to clients/public until March 30

Fort Nelson Literacy Society: Closed to the public

MLA Davies Constituency Office: Closed to the public – 250.774.9607

Northern Rockies Dental Clinic: emergency services only

Fort Nelson Family Dental Clinic: closed until March 23, emergency services on-call

Effective immediately, the Northern Rockies RCMP Detachment will be closing their front counter doors in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19 Virus.

All non-essential services completed at the front counter, including fingerprints, criminal record checks, pardon applications and lost or found property will be temporarily unavailable.

The Northern Rockies Detachment are implementing measures to ensure police service and delivery to the communities we serve are not compromised. When appropriate, efforts to communicate over the phone will take place. Our staff will still be available to respond to calls for service as normal, as the Northern Rockies RCMP Detachment will remain open.

In the event you have any questions, please call the Northern Rockies Detachment main line at (250)774-2700 or (250)774-2777 in the event of an emergency.

The Northern Rockies Detachment would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding during this time.

Staff Sergeant Mike Eling, NCO Northern Rockies Detachment RCMP

NORTHERN HEALTH:

Non-urgent scheduled surgeries postponed (March 17, 2020)

Visitor restrictions in place at Northern Health facilities/outpatient clinics (March 17, 2020)

COVID-19 Online Clinic & Information Line (March 15, 2020)

Non-urgent scheduled surgeries postponed

BC is taking a number of additional steps to address the changing situation in B.C. and ensure our health-care system is best positioned to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

British Columbia’s health authorities including Northern Health have been directed to move all hospitals in the province to Outbreak Response Phase 2, as of March 16, 2020.

This means hospitals will undertake only urgent and emergency procedures and will postpone all non-urgent scheduled surgeries. Northern Health hospitals will review operating-room capacity daily, to prioritize urgent and emergency cases.

The cancellation of non-urgent (elective) scheduled surgeries will be implemented over the coming days. Our first steps will include a reduction in non-urgent procedures performed at all sites, and scheduling of urgent procedures in place of postponed elective surgeries.

Affected patients with upcoming scheduled, elective (non-urgent) procedures, or awaiting urgent procedures, will be contacted in coming days about their procedures.

These measures will assist our hospitals to redeploy and train essential service health-care providers on critical care related to COVID-19, to ensure sufficient medical supplies for patients and staff who need them most, and to further increase capacity to respond to the potential for a surge of COVID-19 patients requiring acute care.

This bulletin can also be found online at: https://stories.northernhealth.ca/media-centre/news

Media Contact: NH media line – 877-961-7724* *Please note – our capacity to respond to individual media requests is limited at this time. Please bear with us.

Visitor restrictions in place at Northern Health facilities/outpatient clinics

Northern Health is working in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control to respond to COVID-19.

To keep our patients, families and staff safe and in keeping with the provincial health officer’s recommendations for social distancing, Northern Health is limiting the number of visitors entering our buildings, effective immediately.

Until further notice, the following visitor restrictions are in place:

Hospital Emergency Departments, Intensive Care/Critical Care areas: ONE adult caregiver/support person

Perinatal Unit: ONE adult caregiver/support person

Neonatal ICU: TWO adult caregivers/support persons

Inpatient Paediatric and Adult Areas (with routine precautions in place): ONE adult caregivers/support persons

Inpatient Areas (additional precautions in place): ONE adult caregiver/support person

Primary and Urgent Care: ONE adult caregiver/support person

Palliative/end of life: We will accommodate patient and family needs and consult with infection prevention and control.

Outpatient Clinics: ONE adult caregiver/support person

Primary and Urgent Care: ONE adult caregiver/support person

Long-term care homes: ONE adult caregivers/support persons

No visitor who is unwell with the following symptoms may visit any of the above facilities: fever, cough, runny/stuffy nose, sore throat and/or diarrhea.

Further, anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who has been in contact with a person infected with COVID-19 during the previous 14 days, must not visit patients/residents in any Northern Health facility or long-term care facility.

Patient navigators will be put in place at entrances of all facilities to ensure visitors are aware of the restrictions.

We understand the importance of visits from family and loved ones to our patients and long-term care residents and we appreciate your support in helping to keep everyone safe.

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control is the recommended resource for provincial information that is accurate and current: http://www.bccdc.ca/. Information is being updated frequently on the site at this time and individuals are encouraged to check back regularly (e.g.. daily).

COVID-19 Response to Include Recreation Centre Closure

FORT NELSON – The continued spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Canada and around the world has understandably raised concerns for residents of the Northern Rockies. We want you to know that your safety will remain our top priority as this situation continues to evolve.

At a Special Meeting held March 17th, Regional Council resolved to take a number of precautionary steps above and beyond the recommendations from the Provincial Health Officer regarding mass gatherings. Council also resolved to amend the NRRM Procedure Bylaw to allow council members to attend special and in camera meetings by phone. As well, late charges on NRRM utility and receivable accounts will be waived during this time. These provisions are intended to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19, based on the NRRM’s remote locations, local healthcare capacity and distance from other services.

• Northern Rockies Regional Recreation Centre – as of March 18th, the Recreation Centre, including the Aquatic Centre will be closed to the public until further notice. At this time, staff will be undertaking annual pool maintenance and any other scheduled tasks that can be completed during the closure.

• Spring Break Kids Camp – Session 1 is underway and will continue to March 20 as scheduled.

• Spring Break Kids Camp – Session 2 (March 23-27) and all other programming is cancelled. Please note that any cancellation fees are waived and participants will be refunded registration fees in full for any cancelled programs.

• Northern Rockies Fire Rescue will operate as normal, but access to the Fire Hall will be restricted to emergency personnel.

• The NRRM Municipal Office in the Town Square will be open as usual; however, we will be making some operational changes to help protect our staff. Public access at Municipal Hall will be limited to the front lobby and Regional Council Chambers (Bear Pit). Many transactions can be completed online, please give us a call and we would be happy to assist you through the process.

We’ll keep you informed. We are committed to keeping our lines of communication open to inform you of the latest developments.

Connect with us your way.

You can reach out to us in all of the usual ways.

• Sign up for the NRRM Emergency Alert system: www.NorthernRockies.ca/Alert

• Give us a call at 250-774-2541 or email JustAsk@NorthernRockies.ca

• If you need to pay a bill, consider registering and paying online through your financial institution.

• Check the website for updates at https://www.northernrockies.ca/covid19

• Follow the Northern Rockies on Facebook or Twitter

• You can watch streaming council meetings, or view the recording at your convenience on the NRRM Youtube channel www.NorthernRockies.ca/CouncilCast

Please observe the recommended social distancing, especially if you have a cough, fever or are experiencing other respiratory symptoms. Wash your hands often with soap and water, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and stay home when you are sick.

Questions about your health? Where can I get more information?

Please refer to official sources regarding the coronavirus, as misinformation has been circulating on social media:

• BC Centre for Disease Control website – Coronavirus Information

• Government of Canada– Updates and Information

• For the latest Canadian updates, visit the Public Health Agency of Canada website.

• The Public Health Agency of Canada has set up a novel coronavirus telephone information line at: 1-833-784-4397.

• Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 or call the Northern Health COVID-19 Online Clinic and Info Line at 1-844-645-7811