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Confusion around Rosthern confirmation of COVID-19

Friday March 20th, the Saskatchewan Health Authority issued a public service announcement for the residents of Rosthern and the surrounding area serviced by the Rosthern Hospital.
COVID 19
COVID-19 illustration (Stock image)

Friday March 20th, the Saskatchewan Health Authority issued a public service announcement for the residents of Rosthern and the surrounding area serviced by the Rosthern Hospital. The message read, “Please be advised of the temporary disruption to emergency and lab services at the Rosthern Hospital due to staff shortages, effective immediately.”

What the announcement was not able to reveal due to privacy laws, was that one of the doctors at the hospital had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Dr. Jesse Melle reported the news about himself and his wife on the Rosthern Medical Clinic’s Facebook page. Dr. Melle was one of many Saskatchewan doctors who attending a curling bonspiel in Edmonton in mid-March.

At the time of the bonspiel, public health officials and the governments of both provinces were not yet recommending the strict physical distancing that are now in place. Twenty-two Saskatchewan healthcare doctors and staff attended the bonspiel and of those, eleven tested positive for COVID-19. “Even with strict adherence to the recommendations at the time, against our best efforts and with very cautious hygiene, my wife and I still contracted the virus.” He learned what health officials are stressing to people across the province, the only way to keep safe is to stay home.

In response to the presence of the virus in their community, the businesses of Rosthern took immediate measures to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. The Credit Union closed except for ATM service; the Town office and facilities are closed to the public; Rosthern Pharmacy and Friesen Drug are open for phone in orders only with curbside pick-up or Town Transit delivery which is operating Monday to Friday 10-5; Rosthern Vet Clinic is closed to the public with phone in prescription renewals and emergency services only; Rosthern Hotel, Sixth & Railway Grill, King’s Chicken & Pizza, and CA7 Dumpling House are only open for take out; Rosthern Bigway Foods is accepting phone in or online ordering with curbside or delivery available, they are also open to the public with lines on the floor to indicate appropriate distancing and plexiglass shields to protect the cashiers; Good Habits market is also open but the number of patrons in the store is limited; Good Neighbours Food Centre will be open April 3rd and 17th with an outdoor pickup; Meadow Rose Floral, Home & Gift is taking phone orders and doing deliveries; Rosthern Cozy Cottage Bakery will take orders through their Facebook page or by phone or text with deliveries every Tuesday; Rosthern Bar is open for offsale only; Red’s Liquor & Beer is open but observe physical distancing; Rosthern Agencies, Parchomchuk Sterdahl Hunter, Grant Thornton LLP, are operating regular hours but are not open to the public so phone for information; Valley Sport, Walter Agencies, Mr Fixya, Market Tire, and Gas Plus are all currently open to the public; Co-op Gas Bar and C-Store are only offering self-serve fuel. All businesses deemed non-essential services and ordered to close by the Government of Saskatchewan are closed. As well the playgrounds in the Rosthern Centennial Park and the Palmer Stone Toddler Park are closed and the Prairie Spirit School Division has closed the playgrounds at all schools including the Rosthern Elementary School.

Rosthern Mayor Dennis Helmuth posted the following message on the town’s website:

We are in the midst of an unprecedented health care situation. As Mayor, along with Council and Administration, we are actively in correspondence with our Medical Professionals as they continue to collaborate with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). Publicly posted updates from SHA will be posted on our social media as they become available.

SOCIAL DISTANCING IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.

SELF ISOLATION IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.

Minimize your visits to the grocery stores. Use delivery services.

If you have COVID-19 symptoms and need to be assessed call 811.

 For medical emergencies call 911.

Everyone has a huge roll to play in this developing situation.

 Thank you for your cooperation,

Dennis Helmuth, Mayor

 Town of Rosthern

The Rural Municipality of Rosthern posted this message on their web page:

Due to the continuing Coronavirus pandemic the R.M. of Rosthern Council and Administration have instituted the following protocols as discussed at a Special Council Meeting held Thursday March 19th, 2020:

1) The Municipal office will be closed to the public until further notice. The office will be staffed regular hours monitoring e-mails and calls.

2) All other Municipal Buildings will also be closed to the public until further notice, this includes the RM Shop and Neuanlage Municipal Hall.

3) Until further notice all Regular Scheduled Council Meetings are postponed. Council will be dealing with certain business by electronic means and will be recorded when a regular meeting is to be held. No bylaws or policies will be made during this time.

4) Should you need to reach your Councillor their phone numbers and e-mails are on the website under Administration.

5) Payments can be made by mail, internet banking through Affinity Credit Union or TelPay. We also have a drop box at the back door that will be checked daily.

6) The RM Council strongly recommends that all residents, clubs, groups and organizations of any kind do not hold any social events or gatherings. We encourage everyone to follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization to reduce the spread.

We realize that this situation is fluid and changing moment by moment. We appreciate your patience and your aid as we deal with this situation. We will closely monitor developments relating to COVID-19 and will review and change as the situations evolve.