Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is reminding people that a 50 vehicle limit applies to businesses like drive-in theatres, with the rationale being to limit the number of people that can gather in one place, even as the province eases restrictions that were put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“We have a less risky environment when people are in cars, so yes, you can have more than one person in a car, but that becomes a very challenging situation when you have large numbers of vehicles,” she said. “To be able to monitor and ensure that you don’t have those multiple numbers of connections becomes much more challenging.”
With movies theatres still closed because of COVID-19, there has been a resurgence of people heading to drive-in theatres across British Columbia, including the Starlight Theatre in Enderby.
On Friday, Dr. Henry amended a provincial order regarding gatherings to include drive-in events. Along with the limit on the number of vehicles, people are not allowed to leave their vehicles, other than to use the washroom. Organizers are also not allowed to sell food or drinks.
Speaking on Saturday, Henry admitted that the order would create hardship for people trying to organize outdoor events, but noted that limiting gatherings was an important part of Phase 2 of B.C.’s pandemic response.
“Maybe we will be at a point come the summer where we’ll be able to expand that but I can’t predict that at this moment,” she added on Monday. “For the next little while, we’re sticking with what we know about mass gatherings and about the risks that they present. This is what we need to do right now. This is not forever, but it is for this phase.”
She says the limit on vehicle numbers may be eased in the near future if COVID-19 case numbers keep improving over the coming weeks, so drive-in theatres can run a viable business this summer.
“We know that people don’t stay in their cars all the time when you’re at these events, and the more people we have, the more chances we have that this virus can spread to a lot of other people. It also makes our jobs in finding people much more challenging, when there are exposures that happen over a large number of people,” Henry said.
“So that’s the rationale for now.”
Henry noted that all the rules around public gatherings – currently still limited to 50 people – are being constantly reviewed with the province taking a cautious approach moving forward.
“We do not want to go back to where we were,” Henry added.
“It’s about trying to have a reasonable approach that we will be able to sustain where we won’t put people at risk over the coming weeks and months.”
(Photo via Starlight Drive In Theatre)
