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| Premier John Horgan charted BC's course ahead on Wednesday, outlining the four phases of the BC Restart Plan |
Premier John Horgan had centre stage on Wednesday afternoon, providing the blue print for the remainder of the spring and summer as British Columbia begins to expand on the limited amount activity that has been allowed since the Emergency Declaration related to COVID.
Speaking for close to an hour, the Premier, who along with Provincial Health Office Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix charted the course ahead, a go slow approach that will build on the provinces' success through April and look to ensure that we don't slip backwards in the ongoing efforts on COVID response.
“Our plan puts safety first. British Columbians have made enormous sacrifices so far, and it’s thanks to them that we’re able to begin to lift some restrictions. We’ll allow activities to resume as the evidence and experts tell us it is appropriate to do so. By moving carefully and deliberately, we will help British Columbians get to a ‘new normal,’ where more of our social and economic life can resume.” -- Premier John Horgan on BC's new normal times ahead
BC's Restart Plan has a website which reviews that work so far and provides the step by step approach the Premier Horgan.
Phase One which is where we are today has provided for essential operations, which the Premier notes has allowed the province to continue to operate in ways that others have not been able to do.
Mid may is the first of the new benchmarks, with a number of commercial enterprises returning to service as well as to see some provincial measures loosened from the last six weeks.
The start of June will see even more returns to a somewhat more normal experience, though all will be governed by the over riding goal of continuing towards keep the reported cases of COVID low.
The final phase, which so far does not have a launchd ate
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Some of the other timelines explored include Provincial Parks, with some opening for day use by the Victoria May Long weekend, though camping will not be allowed until later in the month.
Reopening of the schools appears to be a little trickier, with the approach also to be that of a phase in approach, though the Premier noted for the most part many British Columbia youngsters will not return to school until September.
The path ahead for Child Care and Summer camps was also reviewed, with the Child Care providers required to include daily screening of children and staff, conduct frequent cleaning with new standards to be part of the Child Care Setting Practice Standards.
The return of Public Transit is also part of the new normal launch, many of the new measures have already been implemented by BC Transit across the province.
How the province plans to work with Indigenous, Rural and Remote communities is also part of the new normal overview, the topic one which has been of significant discussion on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii in recent weeks.
Towards the new collaborative framework, the province notes of improved medical transportation options, housing access for self isolation near home communities, faster testing for COVID, contact tracing and access to the Virtual Doctor of the Day.
The government notes that local leaders will determine how these services will operate in their communities, with a priority being to ensure residents can make informed decisions about how they receive care.
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You can explore the full scope of today's program as delivered by the Premier here.
The Premier's Presentation and the Question and Answer period that followed can be explored below:
For more notes related to the BC government's COVID response through the last three months see our archive page here.
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