Tuesday, April 20, 2021
HomeCanadaB.C. premier says it is 'outrageous' individuals are travelling to Vancouver Island,...

B.C. premier says it is ‘outrageous’ individuals are travelling to Vancouver Island, however has no plans to cease it | CBC Information


Premier John Horgan has no plans to impose journey restrictions between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, regardless of warnings {that a} latest spike in COVID-19 infections is at the least partly the results of journey. 

Horgan mentioned in an interview with On The Island it is “completely outrageous” that some individuals are travelling to Vancouver Island for holidays. “However what can we do? Arrest them?”

The premier acknowledged the province might limit ferry journey, and has finished so up to now, however he mentioned it was “not essentially to good impact … I respect we wish to be like New Zealand, however we won’t be.”

BC Ferries added additional sailings over the Easter lengthy weekend to assist passengers preserve a secure bodily distance. Nevertheless site visitors was nonetheless decrease than the Easter lengthy weekend in 2019, by 63 per cent for foot passengers and 46 per cent for car site visitors.

Journey ‘fuelling the hearth’

Horgan dominated out journey restrictions a day after Provincial Well being Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry informed reporters “pointless journey and social gatherings are fuelling the hearth for variants of concern.”

Henry mentioned transmission of the P1 variant of COVID-19, which was first detected in Brazil, was a priority and that some instances have been traced again to individuals who visited Whistler in February.

Whistler Blackcomb has closed for the rest of the winter season, after a number of instances of the P1 variant of concern had been traced to the resort. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

“It was possible that guests from different components of Canada initially launched that pressure,” she mentioned.

Whistler Blackcomb has since closed for the rest of the winter season. 

Whereas most instances of the P1 variant have been detected in Metro Vancouver, there are additionally confirmed instances on Vancouver Island.

The chief medical well being officer for Island Well being says most of these instances have been traced again to journey.

“Those that we have checked out have largely been because of folks travelling to both Whistler, the Decrease Mainland, or being uncovered mainly to somebody from the mainland,” Dr. Richard Stanwick mentioned Tuesday. 

Stanwick expressed frustration that some individuals are travelling to Vancouver Island as a result of they want a break, not as a result of it’s important to take action.

“Informal journey isn’t contributing to safety,” he mentioned. 

Worldwide journey can also be an element within the unfold of COVID-19. To date this yr, greater than 400 flights to or from Vancouver have been listed on the COVID-19 flight publicity checklist by the B.C. Centre for Illness Management.

Most of these had been home flights, however the checklist additionally contains worldwide flights to and from the U.S., India, Mexico, and different international locations, as just lately as April 3.

Leave a Reply

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Recent Comments

%d bloggers like this: