B.C. health officials are expected to unveil new COVID-19 measures for the province amid a surge of new cases.
Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. A live stream will be available on CHEK’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
On Wednesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced that non-essential travel within B.C. will be prohibited for two weeks, while alluding that more measures could be revealed today.
“When it comes to travel, non-essential travel is prohibited in British Columbia and it will remain that way for the next two weeks at least,” he said, later adding. “This is not the time to go storm watching on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
A provincial order prohibiting non-essential travel has not been issued and Horgan did not provide specific details, only saying that more information would be revealed on Nov. 19.
He explained that COVID-19 is everywhere in British Columbia and people should take it seriously, wear masks, and limit their social circles as cases soar.
“You to reduce your social gatherings, you need to focus on staying distant from people you don’t know and if you can’t do so, you should wear a mask. I wear a mask when I am engaging people, you should do the same thing,” he said.
In addition to prohibiting non-essential travel within B.C., Horgan is also advocating for a pan-Canadian approach to travel in order to help reduce COVID-19 cases nationwide.
“We need to make sure that people living in Coquitlam are living under the same rules as people in Chicoutimi,” he said. “We need to make sure that those who want to come to British Columbia must only do so if it essential for their business and their well-being, beyond that we need to stay in our tight social circles.”
Today’s upcoming announcement comes a day after the latest daily record for cases set in British Columbia.
On Wednesday, British Columbia announced 762 new cases recorded over a 24 hour period.
Included in those cases were 20 new cases in Island Health, bringing the active total to 118.
You can watch Thursday’s COVID-19 briefing on Nov. 19, 2020
Graham Cox
