Officials in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough have put together a coronavirus pandemic plan.
It identifies key considerations, critical municipal operations and communication goals, among other things.
Councillors approved the plan during March’s regular municipal council meeting Monday afternoon.
After, Vernon Pitts, Guysborough’s warden, said the municipality’s senior staff members were putting the plan together for some time.
“That’s been in the works for a number of months- it’s a gathering of a lot information, it takes time,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to come up with it, and it just so happened it coincided with what’s going on today in the world.”
Pitts said the plan, which includes details of the plan’s activation, a communications checklist, employee support and human resources management, would have been ready within the next month or so, but they moved quicker based on recent global events.
He said they’re prepared, and they want others to be as well.
“People (have) got to take this seriously- this is not the flu, it is not the common cold, this stuff is deadly,” he said. “It can actually kill you- take responsibility for your own actions, and let’s get ahead of it now, rather than fall behind afterwards.”
Officials say the municipal office will be closed for cleaning Tuesday and Wednesday; it will re-open to employees Thursday, but will remain closed to members of the public for the foreseeable future.
They say all non-essential meetings and travel are cancelled, and regular council meetings will only be held when needed.
