City modifies operations to limit public contact during COVID-19 crisis

By Jensen, Randy on March 21, 2020.

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

The City of Lethbridge has modified operations to additional City facilities to limit public contact and minimize the risk of the transmission of COVID-19.

Lethbridge Transit Administration Building, 619 4 Ave. N., is now closed to the public. Customers can load Breeze Cards over the phone by calling 311. Invoices can also be paid over the phone.

Lethbridge Fire and EMS has announced changes which will be in effect for the next 30 days:

Public access to all the fire stations is restricted. If you require emergency assistance, call 911; if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, call 811. For all other public inquiries, please call Lethbridge 311.

The City is also reassuring the public the drinking water in Lethbridge continues to be of high quality and safe to drink. The water treatment process removes bacteria and viruses and water is tested daily by our certified water treatment operators and bacteria tests are performed weekly by the Provincial Public Health Lab.

In regard to home waste, facial tissues, cleaning wipes and paper towels are not recyclable and are dangerous in the fight of the transmission of COVID-19. These items and any other biomedical waste should be bagged, tied and placed in your black cart. Never place these items in your blue cart.

The Waste and Recycling Centre remains open Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., however, the scale house has suspended any cash transactions and will only accept payments by credit or debit to limit the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 through the handling of money.

The Province of Alberta has released two new resources to help in managing COVID-19 and providing up-to-date information to the public:

– A new app is available to help access health care. Albertans can meet with Alberta-licensed physicians through their smartphone, thanks to an initiative by TELUS Health: http://bit.ly/2Unx9rt;

– A new mapping tool was also introduced Wednesday by the province. This includes COVID-19 case counts, characteristics like age and gender, case locations and lab testing: https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-alberta-statistics.aspx.

The City urges residents to follow its social media feeds and visit http://www.lethbridge.ca/covid19 for regular updates.