Some COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted in time for Family Day, B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Friday.
Daily cases have peaked, and orders that closed bars and reduced capacity in theatres, restaurants and sports venues might be loosened by the Feb. 21 holiday, Henry said.
But don’t expect B.C. to be “opening things up completely,” she said, as experience has shown “that when you do things precipitously, you can get a rebound that can be really hard on people and hard on us because we start to see more transmission again.”
Bars, nightclubs, gyms, fitness centres and dance studios were ordered closed on Dec. 22 and all seated events — concert venues, theatres, movie theatres and sports venues — were limited to 50 per cent capacity.
Youth sports tournaments have resumed, and gyms and fitness clubs were able to reopen Jan. 20 with limits on capacity and spacing requirements, but all other orders were extended and will be reviewed on Feb. 16.
The B.C. Vaccine Card, which was extended to June 30, was amended Friday so that 12-year-olds are only required to show proof of one shot. That’s to prevent 11-year-olds — who received the one-dose pediatric vaccine — from being out of compliance by their 12th birthday. That has already happened to one Victoria youth with a January birthday.
Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said he hasn’t been involved in any talks about relaxations as yet. “That’s probably next week’s conversation,” he said.
For his industry, possible loosening of restrictions is less about capacity limits and more about what it means for people’s mental well being and excitement about going out again.
“The biggest thing out of all this is sending a signal to get people’s confidence back that they can actually start going out more,” Tostenson said. “I think it just gets people going psychologically, thinking maybe this is actually starting to happen so they can start to make plans.”
Extension of the vaccine card and masking have been good for business because it gives people added assurance that patrons are vaccinated and using layers of protection, he said.
The province reported on Friday 2,137 new COVID-19 cases, including 264 in Island Health. There were 30,515 active cases of which 1,654 were on the Island. There were 990 people in hospital of whom 141 were in intensive care. In Island Health, 112 were in hospital, 11 of whom required critical care.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said 670,000 adults, as of Thursday, had been invited for boosters and not yet booked. Of those, 48,000 were age 70-plus.
“It is urgent that this group of people, that these folks get vaccinated, as they are more likely to be hospitalized if they acquire COVID-19,” said Dix. People can book or register online at getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca or by phoning 1-833-838-2323.
