Victoria: The road map that lays out the path for British Columbia residents to get on with their post-pandemic lives will be revealed on Tuesday, says Premier John Horgan.
Details will be announced of a provincial restart plan that benefits communities, residents and businesses after series of restrictions on gatherings, activities and travel since March last year, Horgan said on Thursday.
“We’re confident that the plan we’ll lay out on Tuesday will be a positive one for all British Columbians, whether they are people of faith who want to get back to their temples, to their churches, to their gurdwaras, or people who want to get back onto the field and play a game,’’ said Horgan.
The province went back into health restrictions first imposed in March to slow the transmission of COVID-19 variants of concern in communities and bring down daily case counts that quickly rose above 1,000.
The restrictions closed down indoor dining, adult group fitness activity, planned indoor faith services and placed limits on non-essential travel.
Horgan said the restart will plot the direction ahead, but it will take time to reach the destination.
“All of that is just around the corner, but it has to be a slow and methodical approach,’’ he said. “We’re confident that come July we’re going to be in a much better place.’’
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the restart plan will outline the route the province will take, but people should not expect an immediate, full-scale return to pre-pandemic days.
“It’s not going to be everything at once,’’ she said. “It’s not going to be a light switch. It’s going to be a dimmer switch.’’
A spokesman for B.C.’s devastated tourism sector said the industry wants restrictions lifted on non-essential travel that have kept people contained to specific health authorities.
“There have been a slew of cancellations to all parts of the province. There was a lot of business on the books that didn’t materialize,’’ said Walt Judas, Tourism Industry Association of B.C. chief executive officer.
The Canadian Press
