Premier John Horgan and Dr. Bonnie Henry laid out the province’s plan for a gradual “restart” on Wednesday, beginning with giving the green light to hugging a few extended family members and getting together with up to six people at one time — all with our “new normal” cautions in place — hopefully by the May long weekend.
Horgan and Henry said the aim is for people to keep regular interactions to less than 60 per cent of “normal” in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.
BC Parks will also open to day use as of Thursday, May 14, and to camping on June 1 (with some exceptions).
Non-essential travel is still discouraged.
Some in-class teaching has been occurring for children of essential service workers, and that will be expanded, without an expectation that all students should be learning in class.
Elective surgeries will resume as of May 18, with an estimated 30,000 in the queue. People whose surgeries were postponed due to COVID-19 will be contacted.
As of Thursday, B.C. had 2,288 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 33 additional cases recorded between Wednesday and Thursday. B.C. has seen 124 deaths from the disease.