COVID-19 rules: Some restrictions might be lifted once B.C.'s vaccine cards are fully implemented
B.C. may lift some COVID-19 restrictions next month, when the province's proof-of-vaccination program is fully implemented.
The update came from Dr. Bonnie Henry during an afternoon news conference Tuesday about B.C.'s vaccine card system.
“I really look forward to seeing a full hockey game sometime in the fall or early next winter,” Henry said.
The system will begin Sept. 13, at which time visitors to non-essential businesses such as restaurants and movie theatres will need at least one dose to enter. By Oct. 24, they'll need to have both doses, and won't be considered fully vaccinated for seven days after the second shot.
Until then, the mask mandate and current capacity limits are expected to remain. Depending on the violation, fines of $230, $575 or $2,300 can be handed out for breaking a public health order.
"These (orders) will supplement what we need to do right now as we're moving forward with the B.C. vaccine card," Henry said.
"What we hope as we move through these next few months with the B.C. vaccine card is once it is only immunized people who are at these discretionary events, these social events, these businesses, we'll be able to remove those capacity limits because we know that we've mitigated the risk of so much transmission."
The B.C. government initially hoped to enter Step 4 of its restart plan on Tuesday, though that has been put on hold due to a spike in COVID-19 cases fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Step 4 is the final stage in the province's COVID-19 recovery plan. Personal gatherings, organized gatherings and workplaces would all "return to normal" in that phase. Instead of COVID-19 safety plans, businesses, exercise facilities and sports could operate with communicable disease prevention guidance.
Social contact would be back to normal and mask wearing would be a personal choice, but people would still be asked to stay home when sick and get tested if COVID-19 symptoms develop.
B.C.’s independent COVID-19 Modelling Group, made up of academics and scientists from a number of post-secondary institutions in the province, would like to see the province take a cautious approach to any easing of restrictions.
"This is not the time for us, vaccinated or not, to take many risks because we're really trying to protect our community and get the transmissions down to a place that's more manageable,” said Dr. Sarah Otto, the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical and Experimental Evolution.
Henry said officials are looking at balancing restrictions to get through the fall with the minimum number of disruptions.
"We can mitigate this risk a lot by having people immunized," she said. "I am hopeful that we will transition over the next few months and by Oct. 24, if we get enough people to step up and get protected … that we'll be able to increase the numbers of people so that we will be somewhere near what we had envisioned in Step 4 of the restart."
The original criteria set out by the government for entering Step 4 of the restart plan included getting 70 per cent of the adult population vaccinated with at least one dose, as well as keeping case counts and hospitalization numbers low.
Health Minister Adrian Dix noted weeks ago the province easily passed the first target earlier this summer, but said the Delta variant threw a wrench into B.C.'s progress on the other two fronts.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Andrew Weichel and Kendra Mangione
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.