NWT RCMP begin wearing Covid-19 protective equipment

Some RCMP officers in the Northwest Territories have begun wearing protective equipment while on duty after the territory registered its first case of Covid-19.

Called to a downtown Yellowknife building on Saturday night for what turned out to be a false alarm, officers could be seen wearing face masks.

A fire alarm at the Parry House building had been falsely triggered.

Earlier on Saturday, RCMP had confirmed their staff across the territory would now begin to change ways of working as a positive test for Covid-19 was confirmed in Yellowknife.

“To support the direction by health authorities, our members may be attending calls for service wearing additional equipment,” read an RCMP statement.

“We want to advise the public to not be alarmed should our members attend with personal protective equipment. It is for the safety of both the public and our employees.”

RCMP say their services “remain intact” across the NWT but individual detachments may decide to reduce or end front-counter services and tasks like fingerprinting for background checks.

For the time being, anyone needing the police should call 911 or their local 1111 number. Don’t head to the detachment in person.

“In many of our communities, there will be no change to our operations,” RCMP said. “In others, you may notice changes.

“All of the decisions are part of a plan to support 24-7-365 police services at all of our NT RCMP detachments.”