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Shortage of staff due to COVID-19 affecting Winnipeg Transit, fire paramedic services, says mayor
Winnipeg’s mayor says that the city of Winnipeg is facing staffing challenges due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, including transit and the city’s fire paramedic services.Mayor Brian Bowman and head of the Emergency Services Unit, Jason Shaw, made the announcement Thursday.“We are not immune to the service effects with COVID-19,” said Bowman, adding the city has been able to handle staffing challenges over the past few weeks so far.Shaw said there are currently 351 active cases of COVID-19 among city staff, including 76 in transit and 85 in the fire paramedic services.“Winnipeg transit is using spare operators,” said Shaw, but said that transit has had to cancel some routes. People should check daily to see if their route is running.”Fire paramedic services are being redeployed, said Shaw, and so far has not impacted response times.“Operational planning and decisions are being made in consultation with our medical director and shared health,” he said.“We continue to get updates from provincial health officials.