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Some Edmonton seniors centres are temporarily shutting their doors while others are suspending certain services to contain the spread of COVID-19.

At an emergency meeting on Friday, city council moved to close the three centres maintained by the city by Monday, including Central Lions Seniors Recreation Centre, the Northgate Lions Seniors Recreation Centre, and the Mill Woods Seniors and Multicultural Centre.

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“Through our conversations with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services and certainly the regular updates, they’ve identified vulnerable populations,” interim city manager Adam Laughlin said Friday. “Seniors have been identified as vulnerable when it comes to this illness and so it’s a proactive step to make sure that we minimize opportunity for contraction.”

As to why they wouldn’t be fully closed until Monday, he said: “It is a bit of wind down associated with those facilities to ensure we’re not creating too much disruption.”

Some centres not run by the city are also shutting down, including the Westend Seniors Activity Centre (WSAC), Edmonton Seniors Centre, and Southwest Edmonton Seniors Association. Other centres, like the Sage Seniors Association, the South East Edmonton Seniors Association Activity Centre (SEESA), and the Jewish Seniors Citizen’s are cancelling some group activities and limiting operations to essential services.