The Premier says the true economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is a big one, though he noted he didn’t have details readily available.

“I can tell you that it is a hole and its a big one, and it is shared by every province in the country,” said John Horgan, who made those comments while announcing that B.C. would be moving to the next phase of its restart plan this past Wednesday.

“This has been catastrophic for globalism. It’s been catastrophic for the economy. Minister James will be releasing details the second week in July so that British Columbians can have an accurate understanding [of the situation].”

Finance Minister Carole James previously said rebuilding the B.C. economy is going to be a massive task, noting the province lost about 314,000 jobs since February.

“Instead of just appealing to the shut it all down approach, we have charter our own course from the beginning because our approach and certainly Dr. Henry’s approach was, ‘how do we solve the problem’, rather than just identify the problem?” Horgan said.

“We’re doing everything we can at this point to meet the needs of businesses and to meet the needs of people during this period.”

Health Minister Adrian Dix urged people to be careful during the first weekend under Phase 3 restrictions, asking them to keep following the public health guidelines that have been in place since March. Horgan echoed those comments.

“We need to remember we are not leaving COVID-19 behind. It is here in every corner of British Columbia and we need to behave accordingly, and we need to prepare ourselves, not just as individuals, but our economy to manage that,” he noted.

“It includes a whole host of activities that all involve people, and that’s been our focus and it will continue to be our focus.”

The President of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce – Tyson Andrykew – told NL News that he is optimistic that the worst of the job losses because of COVID-19 is behind us.