Stay home when you can, stick to essentials, get a vaccine and help stop the spread - that's the message from the mayors of Creighton, Denare Beach and Flin Flon.
The three leaders - Creighton Mayor Bruce Fidler, Denare Beach Mayor Carl Lentowicz and Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley - signed off on a joint statement released to the public May 19, encouraging members of their three communities to continue following best public health advice to stave off COVID-19.
In the statement, which was posted on the social media channels of all three communities, Fidler, Huntley and Lentowicz each called on area residents to "remain vigilant and not let our guard down to contain the spread of COVID-19."
"We must all remember to adhere to the fundamentals of wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing and washing our hands frequently."
As the three communities cover an area in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, different rules and health orders apply in each community. For example, while Manitoba has restricted all private gatherings (both indoor and outdoor) and has temporarily disallowed all outdoor public gatherings, Saskatchewan currently - as of May 25 - has fewer restrictions in place. While private indoor gatherings are temporarily barred and indoor gatherings are restricted to household members only, up to 10 people are still allowed to meet outdoors, both on public and private property.
Regardless of the rules, the three mayors want people in their communities to keep things as safe as possible and to avoid going out for unnecessary reasons.
"Don't gather, even if it's in your own backyard. Please keep your gathering to your household only. COVID-19 is here and it's not going away anytime soon. We need to protect our families, our friends, our neighbours and ourselves," reads the statement.
The three mayors also called for all eligible people in the three communities to get vaccinated for COVID-19 - walk-in clinics for Moderna vaccines will take place May 27-28 in Flin Flon and have taken place sporadically in Creighton, while another clinics have offered Moderna doses for all Denare Beach and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) residents. All three areas can give first doses of vaccine to people aged 18 and older, while the Flin Flon site will be providing doses of Pfizer vaccine May 29 for youths aged 12-17, who are now cleared to receive the Pfizer dose.
As of May 24, the health district that covers Flin Flon has seen 64 per cent of eligible people get COVID-19 vaccines.
Local councils have also been encouraging people to get their vaccinations - all members of the City of Flin Flon's administration, Mayor Huntley and all members of city council as of late last month have received their first dose, while Fidler said about "95 per cent" of Creighton's council and administration had gotten their doses during the council's May 12 meeting.
"Get your vaccination. There are a lot of opportunities to get the vaccine in Flin Flon and in Creighton. The public health orders in place are intended to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the only way to do that is to stay home and not put yourself and others at risk," reads the mayors' statement.
"We are in this together and need every one of you to do your part for a bit longer to get through this pandemic."
