LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County officials allowed some staff working at the County Centre administrative office to spend two days working from home last week as a precaution after one staff member was found to have been in direct contact with a person who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Municipal officials learned of the initial incident last Tuesday morning. The staff member who was in direct contact with the virus-carrier is now self-isolating for 14 days.
"As soon as we were made aware, we sent that employee home," said the municipality's communications manager Jihad Moghrabi last Tuesday afternoon, explaining that Alberta Health Services was contacted and confirmed the only step necessary was the one employee's self-isolation.
"However, out of an abundance of caution," added Moghrabi, " we have encouraged any staff who are working at the County Centre to work from home for the next 48 hours, if possible."
The County Centre office on the Lac La Biche bypass road remained open to the public during administrative hours, with extra cleaning measures in place.
As of last Friday, aside from the one staff member who continues to isolate, all other staff were back in the office, says munipal CAO Ken Van Buul.
While the person in isolation is a municipal employee, it has not been stated where the person they came into contact with was from. According to the Alberta government's most recent update on the COVID situation, there continues to be no active cases of the respiratory virus reported in Lac La Biche County.
Across Alberta, there have been more than 19,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. There are currently more than 1,900 active cases in the province, with more than half in the Edmonton zone. The north zone reports just over 100 active cases. Across Alberta, almost 300 deaths have been attributed to the virus.
