B.C. COVID-19 restrictions now in effect until the end of January

B.C.’s new COVID-19 restrictions are now in place and will remain for the next six weeks, in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including the new highly transmissible Omicron variant.

On Friday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry admitted the province the recent rapid spread of the Omicron variant has derailed the progress made in recent months in B.C.

“This is of course not where we want to be,” she said.

“Right now, we need to slow the spread and ensure that our healthcare system and our communities are protected.”

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She added cases are spiking across Canada and globally because the variant will likely result in provinces seeing a surge within the next week.

“It is spreading more rapidly than before and we need to flatten that curve. If we see rapid increases in cases, we know that a certain proportion of those people will need hospital care.”

So, Henry announced public health measures that limit events, family gatherings and cancel all New Year’s Eve parties.

New public health measures are in effect until the end of the day Tuesday, Jan. 31:

• Personal gatherings are restricted to no more than 10 people or one other household where everyone older than 12 years old is fully vaccinated,
• B.C. Vaccine Cards are required for organized events of any size and Q.R. code need to be scanned at events,
• Diners at restaurants and bars will be prevented from mingling with other tables, and they must wear a mask when not seated,
• Half-capacity limits on venues that hold more than one-thousand people with reinforced masking requirements and scanning of the B.C. Vaccine Card QR code,
• All organized New Year’s Eve organized gatherings and events will be restricted to being seated-only events, with no mingling or dancing allowed,
• And all sports tournaments are on hold.

The daily counts increased virtually every day last week, finishing with 789 on Friday.

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Since the restrictions were announced, industries in B.C. have given mixed reactions.

Ingrid Jarrett is the president of B.C. Hotel Association and says these restrictions have already impacted the industry and will only continue to once it officially kicks in.

“Beginning of last week, we were getting messages that further restrictions may be coming out. And I think what happened is many companies and people that currently have booked meetings, events and conferences into 2022 — due to the uncertainty and the lack of clarity on messaging — have actually cancelled,” she explains.

Jarrett says they are seeing cancellations up until June 2022.

“So we’re sitting month 22 in the pandemic, and most hotels in the province … are seeing somewhere between 40 and 70 per cent revenue loss over 2019, for all of that period of time. So there are pockets that have done well, which are resort destinations, but they are certainly the smallest portion of revenue in the province.”

Apart from the unrelenting uncertainty of the pandemic impacting the industry, it has led to those holding those events getting cold feet. Especially with highway closures because of the recent extreme weather has also impacted business.

“We all want to do everything we can to put this pandemic behind us. We as an industry have been very compliant and really led in best practices and protocols, we continue to do that. But within the restrictions that clearly identifies meetings, trade shows in hotels and specific property built for large events and gatherings and meetings, that we actually can continue to operate as we have been for the last couple of years in the pandemic.

“And so it really is a matter of resident sentiment and uncertainty. So it’s not that it isn’t safe to meet in a hotel, it in fact is … But people are uncertain as to what will happen with travel, how can they get there? And then what will happen with this new variant?”