COVID-19 HISTORICAL INFORMATION
June 25 – BC’s Restart Plan – Transition to Phase 3
On May 7, 2020 Premier John Horgan announced BC’s Restart Plan, which outlines how British Columbians will move forward with safely restarting our province beginning in mid-May. Under the plan, government will work closely with public health officials, businesses and labour organizations to lift restrictions in phases, gradually allowing for more social and economic activity, while closely monitoring health information to minimize the risk to the public.
BC is now moving towards a gradual transition to Phase 3, which includes reopening of hotels and resorts, parks, the film industry and select entertainment, like movie theatres.
Phase 3 also includes the safe and respectful return of travel and tourism within the province. British Columbians who wish to travel within BC this summer are advised to plan ahead and be respectful while visiting communities, especially smaller and rural towns. Dr. Henry has laid out travel guidelines for everyone travelling to and within BC:
- pre-trip planning and research on available resources at arriving destination
- respecting any local travel advisories to isolated and remote communities
- no travelling with anyone who is sick, and if symptoms develop while travelling – self isolate immediately and contact 811 for guidance and testing
- practicing safe physical distancing of two metres at all times
- spending time in small groups and open spaces
- practicing good hygiene, including frequent hand washing and cleaning
For more information about the BC Restart Plan, please visit the website.
May 5, 2020 – Update from Vancouver Coastal Health
The end of the beginning of COVID-19
Dr. Bonnie Henry said she believes we are at “the end of the beginning” of our COVID-19 pandemic in B.C., and while we are not quite ready to ease restrictions on daily life, we are at the point where we can begin to plan forward to increase our social connections, to increase our work, to increase our school and day care and child care. On Wednesday, Premier John Horgan will be speaking about how government will be moving forward.
Modelling increasing contacts in community
Using dynamic compartmental modelling, Dr. Henry showed that with physical distancing, and doing work and school at home, the modelling shows we are having about 30% of our usual contacts in the community. If we increase our contacts to 40%, we would expect new cases to continue to be relatively low over the coming weeks and months, hospitalizations would also stay low. If we increase our number of contacts from 30% to 60%, we would likely have increased numbers of cases, and some hospitalizations over time in the coming weeks, but we could manage them within our capacity planning. If we went all the way to 80% of our usual contacts, the virus has the opportunity to take off quite rapidly, and we might have a rapidly increasing outbreak, and a rapidly increased number of people who need hospitalization.
Dr. Henry said the challenge is to rebuild our resilient economy and provide supports for people so they can safely return to work, to strengthen our social fabric and have connections in a safe way. She said the sweet spot will be increasing our contacts by about half, or twice as many as we have now, to 60%, but without allowing those opportunities for rapidly exponential growth of the virus in our community. She said key principles include staying informed, practicing good hygiene, and staying at home and away from others if you’re feeling ill.
Message from Tourism Pemberton President:
TO PEMBERTON VISITORS AND RESIDENTS TO STAY HOME AND HELP FLATTEN THE CURVE ON COVID-19
Hello All,
These are incredibly challenging times. I want to let you know that the most important things you can do right now for our community are as follows.
Practice social distancing.
It may seem overly cautious, but we need to take significant steps right now and limit our contact with others to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community, province and globally. As much as possible, stay at home. Cancel or postpone gatherings. Keep your kids away from group settings. If you do go out, keep at least two metres away from others, and avoid places where you can’t keep a distance.
Look after our local healthcare system.
Do not go to the Pemberton Health Clinic for non-urgent concerns or if you are concerned about symptoms of illness related to COVID-19. Instead, call the special information and assessment line the province has set up at 1-888-COVID19 (1-888-268-4319) or visit their website at www.bccdc.ca.
Support our community services.
The local food bank is in need of non perishables and cash
Look after each other.
Please continue to be caring and civil towards each other, especially on social media. We all find ourselves in an unprecedented situation and we need to build each other up, not tear each other down.
Again, I can’t emphasize enough that we all must take social distancing recommendations from public health officials very seriously. For those not in Pemberton, this is not the time to travel. I ask that you stay home for now until we can welcome you with open arms again.
Warmly,
Mark Mendonca
Tourism Pemberton
#pembertonproud #stayhome #socialdistance
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