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Nipawin mayor “disturbed” by people not self-isolating

NIPAWIN— Nipawin’s mayor, Rennie Harper, said she was “disturbed” by the number of people in the community disregarding self-isolation instructions.
Rennie

NIPAWIN— Nipawin’s mayor, Rennie Harper, said she was “disturbed” by the number of people in the community disregarding self-isolation instructions.

“I was really disturbed yesterday when I came downtown for the first time in ten days and saw how many people were moving around,” Harper said on April 8.

On April 8, she recorded a video on the town’s Facebook page urging people to stay home.

“Our streets are not nearly as quiet as they need to be,” she said in the video.

“For this emergency, all residents of the Town of Nipawin must stay home and physically distance as much as possible.”

Rennie said that these self-isolation measures aren’t just about keeping yourself safe.

“Our medical staff, our grocery staff, for people like your grandparents, your friend, your family, your neighbours— you’re doing it for your entire community.”

A committee has been formed within Nipawin, where representatives of the town, community organizations, and businesses are meeting to strategize how to minimize the impact of COVID-19.

“We’re talking about what are some of the things we can do, for example, to make sure that the nutrition for kids’ meals go on,” Harper said.

“It’s to try to link ourselves together and send a clear message to the people in our community.”

Members of the committee include the RCMP, Nipawin Fire Department, North East School Division, KidsFirst, Oasis, Housing Authority, Social Services, Nipawin Chamber, independent businesses, as well as the Town of Nipawin.

Rennie said each grocery store in the community will be placing flyers in their grocery bags that instructs proper handwashing and distancing.

Movable billboards are being placed around the town.

The committee meets weekly on Wednesday.                             

“Once we start to get on the road to recovery we’ll use this group to talk about, ‘How do we help businesses get back to some semblance of normal.’”