B.C.’s Environment Minister is reporting “exceptionally high” compliance when it comes to booking campsites in B.C. provincial parks.
Bookings opened on March 8, and the province is maintaining an honour system when it comes to ensure people outside of B.C. don’t book until July 8 at the earliest.
And George Heyman says most people have followed that guideline.
“What we do know, from spot audits we did over the Easter weekend, was in terms of people from out of province coming or trying to make reservations, we made well over a 99 per cent compliance rate with reservations,” he said. “When we called some numbers where we weren’t sure if people were residents of B.C., a number of people voluntarily cancelled their reservations.”
“So, I would say reliance on giving advice and voluntary compliance with the reservation system has been exceptionally high. We want people to be safe, we want them to understand the risks that are ahead if we don’t follow the advice of the provincial health officer.”
Heyman recommends that people only camp in places close to where they live to avoid spreading COVID-19 across the province.
At this time, there is no plan to close down campgrounds, as COVID-19 cases rise, particularly in the Lower Mainland. Last year, the province closed all provincial parks and restricted camping before the Easter long weekend to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Heyman says it’s too early to say if the province will revisit the start date for out-of-province campers to book campsites.
“There’s been no advice [from health officials] to date. We’re monitoring the situation, as is the provincial health office, on a virtually daily basis,” he says.
“If we get to the point where we’re seeing infection rates rising in British Columbia and Canada, I think all governments in Canada will be advising people very strongly to stay at home, and other measures may be taken.
“Last year, we called people from out of province and asked people to voluntarily cancel their reservations. And they did, in huge numbers, very high percentages. So let’s see what the future brings; July 8 is a little ways away yet.”
New modelling yesterday also shows B.C. is on track to hit at least 2,000 cases per day later this spring if contact trends stay the same.
