It’s official: B.C. is moving to Step 3 of its COVID-19 Restart Plan on July 1.
Premier John Horgan made that announcement today, calling it an exciting day for everyone.
Horgan says Step 3 means people can go watch their kids play sports, can travel, and can plan their weddings.
There will also be no group limits for indoor and outdoor dining, all liquor service restrictions will be lifted, and casinos and nightclubs will be allowed to reopen with a limited capacity, and no dancing allowed. People will still not be allowed to move between tables.
Step 3 will also see a return to usual indoor and outdoor personal gatherings. Organized indoor gatherings will be limited to 50 people, or up to 50 per cent, of the venue’s capacity, whichever is greater.
“So if your venue is one that holds a capacity of 60 people, then you can have 50. If it’s a venue that has 500 people, then 50 per cent capacity would be 250,” Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said.
Outdoor organized gatherings can have up to 5,000 people, or up to 50 per cent capacity, also whichever is greater.
“If your venue can hold up to 5,000 people, you can have 100 per cent capacity. Above 5,000 people, that capacity will be 50 per cent,” Henry added.
Fairs, festivals, and trade shows will be able to take place with safety plans. Religious services will be able to take place as normal.
Masks will no longer be mandatory indoors although they will still be recommended for people aged 12 and older who are not yet fully vaccinated.
“Some people may also continue to choose to wear masks, and that’s okay. We need to remember that we all need to go on our own pace,” noted Henry. “And there are some reasons why we may be feel more at risk, or it may be important for us to continue to protect ourselves using masks.”
“We know that most people in British Columbia are doing the right thing and we expect that will continue.”
Thursday will also mean an easing of travel restrictions, allowing people from other parts of Canada to travel to B.C. for recreation.
“Preferably vaccinated people,” Henry said, asking visitors to be respectful of the communities they go to.
“We recognize that you’re bringing risk with you and we know that as more people are coming into British Columbia, there are a chance that people will come with this virus, and they may come with different strains or variants of the virus. So we need to have some measures in place to be able to detect people [with the virus]. We know we have a strategy now, where we will be testing everyone so we know exactly what strains are circulating.”
Visitors are being told to plan ahead, to research before arriving to their destination, and respect any local travel advisories that might still be in effect.
“Not every community has received two doses of vaccine for all of their members yet. And not every community is ready yet to receive visitors. But many are,” Henry noted.
Step 3 also will bring an end to the COVID-19 provincial state of emergency and public health emergency, both of which were brought in, in March 2020.
More to come.
