Mayor Ryan Bater is practicing social distancing. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Keaton Brown

keep your distance

Mayor Ryan Bater preaches importance of social distancing

Mar 24, 2020 | 2:00 PM

As the COVID-19 situation continues to grow across the country, the issue of social distancing becomes more and more important.

In their daily press briefings, the Government of Canada continues to remind Canadians of the importance of self-isolation and social distancing, issues North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater is taking very seriously.

Speaking this morning, Bater said he has been working from home for some time now.

“I have been working from home since last week and it has been surprisingly productive,” he said.

Bater reiterated the stay at home and social distancing mandates are not coming from local governments but provincially and nationally.

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“It is a huge deal, it is coming from the prime minister, and it is coming from our premier. It is even coming from world leaders from across the globe and the message has been very clear — stay home,” he said.

Bater explained working from home and social distancing does not just mean relocating your regular schedule into the homestead.

“That doesn’t mean that you just relocate your plans. If you were going out to have dinner it doesn’t mean you have a dinner party and have people over. That is not staying home. No house parties, no dinner parties and no birthday parties,” he said.

Bater moved most of his meetings from city hall or other physical locations to the online platforms available for video conferencing.

“We have been experimenting with different platforms and I actually use Zoom to communicate with other city mayors if you can believe it,” he said.

Not everyone is able to work from home and a lot of essential services continue to be in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bater said the responsibility lies on the public to help keep these people safe while they provide services for everyone else.

“We do have people that are going to work to provide these necessary services. People are working in grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations. These services are important for all of us. If you aren’t feeling well, don’t go out,” he said. “Behave as if you are infected and that every person that you are interacting with is your 90-year-old grandma,” he added.

Most people who are walking around with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, meaning they don’t know they have the virus, so it is important for everyone to maintain social distancing.

“They just postponed the Olympics. If they can postpone the Olympics, you can postpone your dinner party,” he said.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow