With more and more young people testing positive for COVID-19, the Premier is hoping a little Hollywood star power will help get younger people on board with coronavirus precautions.
“This is a call out to Deadpool right now. Ryan [Reynolds], we need your help up here. Get in touch with us, my number’s on the internet,” Premier John Horgan said. “Seth Rogen, another outstanding British Columbian.”
“We need to communicate with people who aren’t hearing us. The two of you alone could help us in that regard.”
B.C. reported 85 new cases of the virus today, the third highest single day increase during the entire pandemic, and the majority of cases were inyoung people in the Lower Mainland.
“We’re working as hard as we can to enlist a number of prominent British Columbians and prominent Canadians to help get that message through to the demographic that clearly isn’t hearing our message,” added Horgan, noting that ‘other options’ are also on the table.
Last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix appealed once again to young people in their 20s and 30s asking them to stop partying in large groups. It after a spike in cases linked to private parties in Metro Vancouver, similar to an outbreak in Kelowna connected to private gatherings over the Canada Day long weekend.
As of yesterday, about 42 per cent of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases involved people under the age of 39.
“We have been relying on people to use their good judgment and common sense and then we’ve had positive results because of that,” Horgan said. “We prefer the good judgement of British Columbians, but those tools are available to us and they are escalating, starting with warnings and then getting into more severe penalties.”
“People have started to modify or moderate their behaviour in social settings and stick to the plan, but we do need to get the message out to that the audience is not hearing us.”
According to the latest data from the BC Centre for Disease Control, Interior Health had the lowest median age for all cases at 36 years, followed by Northern Health at 37, Fraser Health at 43, Vancouver Island and 50, and Vancouver Coastal Health at 54.
(Photo via Wikimedia)
We need young people to understand that now is not the time to go to large parties. @VancityReynolds & @Sethrogen – please help spread the message to stop the spread of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/u9SodpRnxu
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) August 12, 2020
