Don’t travel to the Vancouver Coastal or Fraser Valley health regions.
That’s the message Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is stressing after a special weekend COVID-19 update.
She announced new health orders for both areas that will stay in effect until Monday, November 23rd.
Those orders included:
- No social gatherings of any size with anyone other than your immediate household
- Travel into and out of areas of Vancouver and Fraser Health should be essential travel only
- Travel for sports into and out of this region is suspended
- Businesses, recreation centers or other organizations that organize or operate indoor group physical activities must stop holding these activities until updated COVID-19 safety plans are in place(Yoga classes, spin classes, etc)
- Indoor sports that cannot maintain physical distancing are suspended(can be replaced with practices or drills and do not apply to school programs)
- All businesses must conduct active in person screening and physical distancing
- Party buses and limousines must end services until November 23rd
Dr. Bonnie Henry says the announcement today is a step backward in our fight against COVID-19, and we must follow the new rules if we want to bring the case count back down.
“As you know, provincial health orders are always a last resort, but right now these measures are needed. We need everyone to help us keep this wall strong.”
“We know that we need now to redouble our efforts to protect our hospitals, our schools, our families, our workplaces, our communities and our elders and now is a time that we need to do this. Despite being tired, despite the uncertainty, despite what has been happening for the last few months, this is a road we must walk, and we must walk it together,” explained Henry.
In Saturday’s update, 567 new cases of the virus were confirmed, including three new ones on Vancouver Island and 122 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
