VANCOUVER -- While the province is slowly reopening its economy, cruise ships are still not part of that plan.
During her daily briefing Tuesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said she's been in contact with her counterparts in the Yukon, Alaska and Washington State and said they're all against reopening the cruise season too.
"We are, as you can imagine, not in favour of cruise ships coming into anywhere in British Columbia," Henry said.
"This is not the time for that type of a risk to be taken in our province and certainly not in our ports."
Currently, there is a federal ban on cruise ships docking in Canada that's in place until July 1.
Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said they don't believe the cruise ship season will restart at that point, but instead said an extension on those restrictions are likely.
"At the beginning of March we suggested this was not the year to be going on cruise ships," Dix said.
"If people are planning that kind of travel … I think all of the evidence tells you this is not the summer for that."
At least one company, Carnival Cruise Line, says it's getting ready to phase in some sailings this summer, but is limiting departures to Galveston, Miami and Port Canaveral, to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Other sailings previously scheduled to leave from Vancouver have been cancelled through the summer.
If a cruise ship did arrive, Henry said, passengers wouldn't be allowed to disembark as anyone arriving in B.C. must isolate for 14 days.
