Those returning to B.C. by air or land are required to present a self-isolation plan to officials when they arrive, or face being sent to a quarantine site, says Premier John Horgan.
“This self-isolation plan is not just a suggestion,” Horgan said. “It is a directive from the public health officer. It is also consistent with the Quarantine Act that has been put in place by the federal government, and it is mandatory for those coming back to British Columbia.”
Snowbirds returning from sunny spots in the U.S. and elsewhere and those coming off repatriation flights will be met by B.C. and federal officials and asked to fill out legal documents on their self-isolation plans.
Translators will be available at the borders to help those for whom English is not a first language. The forms are also available online.
The self-isolation plan must be approved by officials before travellers can go home, Horgan said.
“If there is not an isolation plan, a quarantine site will be prepared and made available to those individuals until they can get themselves together,” he said.
“We have an expectation that those that have been away, as grateful as they are, I’m sure, to be back in British Columbia, they have to pick up the ball and carry it just as we all have.”
The premier said the plan has been agreed to by the federal government, which will join the effort next week, but B.C. has resources on the ground and is “ready to go.”
“We need to make sure that all of the work that Canadians have been doing is not erased by a group of people who may come back and not have the same level of perseverance that British Columbians have had to this point of time.”
The province has not said where the quarantine sites will be located.
