British Columbia is extending the state of emergency due to COVID-19 by another two weeks to the end of May.

It is the fourth time that the state of emergency – which was first declared on March 18 – has been extended, even as there are plans to begin a gradual reopening of the economy next Tuesday, May 19.

Premier John Horgan says even though number of active COVID-19 cases are declining in the province, British Columbians need to continue to be vigilant, as the crisis is far from over.

“We have been fighting the virus, we should not be fighting ourselves,” he said. “We need to make sure that we are focused together collectively on coming through this better off than we were when we started. We need to support people, we need to support businesses and we need to plan carefully for the restart.”

Over the May long weekend, Horgan is asking people to avoid non-essential travel, follow physical distancing requirements, and stay home if you are sick.

“We [extended the state of emergency] so that we continue to keep people healthy and keep people safe,” Horgan added. “The state of emergency will remain in place for the foreseeable future. We renew it every two weeks based on the evidence we see from Dr. Henry, and in the broader community.”

Orphan Well Cleanup Program

As well, Horgan also says the province is also rolling out a plan to help clean up about 2,000 orphaned or inactive wells in Northern British Columbia. It’s after $120 million in funding from the Federal Government, with the Premier estimating will put about 1,200 people to work.

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Bruce Ralston says there are three types of wells that would be cleaned up – dormant, orphan, and legacy.

There are 7,685 dormant wells in the province, according to Ralston – wells that were active for five years and will not be returning to service. He says there are also 357 orphan sites, where the owner has abandoned the project and has either gone bankrupt or cannot be reached by government, while legacy sites are old and abandoned wells that are negatively impacting the environment.

“Thanks to the co-operation between the governments of Canada and British Columbia, this program will mean a cleaner environment and much needed jobs for workers in B.C.,” said Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, in a statement Wednesday.

Ralston noted that government will be seeking input from communities to determine what sites should be cleaned up, noting that $100 million will go to clean dormant wells, $15 million for orphan sites, and $5 million for legacy sites.

In response to the #COVID19 pandemic, #BC has extended the current Provincial State of Emergency to May 26, 2020.

For medical information follow @CDCofBC or visit https://t.co/UnCdZmNGE5. For non-medical information visit https://t.co/6hwLL4rgZW. #COVIDBC pic.twitter.com/jWjgDt9aQF

— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) May 13, 2020