Nearly 400 Edmonton firefighters, police officers, city workers away due to COVID-19

Emergency services staffing impacted by COVID-19 As Omicron cases rise, emergency services in Edmonton are being forced to make staffing adjustments to continue to respond to calls quickly.

Emergency services in Edmonton continued to operate as normal Wednesday, despite a pandemic surge driven by the Omicron variant sending more than 200 frontline workers home.

An additional 150 City of Edmonton staff and 43 EPS employees were away because of the disease.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services announced a pause of some non-emergency work after four fire stations were placed on outbreak status with more than 10 COVID-19 cases each.

A total of 53 firefighters had the virus Wednesday, which is about five per cent of EFRS' 1,105 person force.

"I want to provide that reassurance to all Edmontonians that we will stand by, answer their calls in times of need," Fire Chief Joe Zatylny said.

"We were able to adjust staff schedules and supplement shifts to maintain our service for Edmontonians."

The fire stations on outbreak status were spread out and Zatylny said neighbouring fire halls were able to cover those calls.

He added some employees were also being temporarily reassigned to planning duties to reduce contact with the public.

"Site visits for fire inspections, other than business licences and complaints, have been reprioritized until Jan. 14 to reduce the potential risk to staff and the public," he added.

EFRS fire halls on outbreak status:

Fire Station No. 10

Lauderdale

12735 101 Street

Fire Station No. 18

Clareview

13808 Victoria Trail

Fire Station No. 24

Terwillegar

131 Haddow Close

Fire Station No. 27

Ellerslie

1203 Ellwood Road SW

194 EPS EMPLOYEES AWAY

Edmonton Police Service had about eight per cent of its workforce unavailable on Wednesday, many of those due to COVID-19.

Of its sworn officers, 151 were away due to illness or isolation, with 77 testing positive. The service has a total of 1,955 officers. EPS also had 43 other employees away.

"With the rise of positive cases in Alberta, the EPS continues to reinforce and evolve its duty protocols for the safety of EPS employees and the public to mitigate COVID-19 impacts on our employees and our service delivery," spokesperson Landis Reichle said.

"Our increased isolations have challenged our organization, but we are continuing to assess and adjust our staffing as required to maintain frontline service delivery."

150 CITY OF EDMONTON EMPLOYEES AWAY

The City of Edmonton issued a public service announcement on Tuesday.

About 150 of its employees, who are not firefighters, had COVID-19 then. But, officials said the city was still running as normal.

"Reductions to city services will continue to be considered should Omicron cases cause disruption to the city workforce. Service adjustments will be communicated as any changes occur," the announcement read.

The city announcement said no essential workers are returning to work before their isolation period is over, even though Alberta's rules allow for that.