B.C. Premier John Horgan opened his weekly press briefing on Thursday congratulating the majority of British Columbians on their adherence to public-health orders, but said he was disappointed by video footage of large gatherings in Kelowna and Vancouver.
"I have to say to British Columbians, come on, you're better than that," Horgan admonished.
“We need bigger spaces and fewer faces,” said Horgan. “We need to make sure that we’re respecting, not just our own space, but other people’s space.”
On Tuesday night, video and photos showed an informal drum circle at Third Beach in Stanley Park in Vancouver attended by large groups of people, with little evidence they were maintaining a physical distance or wearing masks.
About 70 people have been infected by COVID-19 as a result of parties held in Kelowna around Canada Day.
“We’re only going to be able to defeat this if we do it together,” said Horgan. “The challenge ahead of us is enormous.”
The province has tools to enforce COVID-19 public-health orders and regulations, but Horgan said such crackdowns in other provinces haven’t necessarily worked, and his approach — and that of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry — is to appeal to people “to act better.”
“We have to appeal to people’s common sense and their general decency and their respect for their neighbours and their loved ones — that’s what we’re doing today, that’s what I’m trying to do today.
On Wednesday, Henry announced 34 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.
There are currently 285 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C.
There are 17 people in hospital with COVID-19, including three in intensive care units. No new deaths were announced Wednesday, leaving the total at 189.
The next update from the provincial health officer on new COVID-19 cases will be announced just after noon today.
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