Calls to the City of New Westminster’s COVID-19 compliance hotline are on the decline – but they could rise as more places start to reopen.
The hotline, launched on March 27, had received a total of 547 calls and emails as of May 7. The city launched the hotline so people had a place to report complaints with public health orders.
“The number of COVID-19 complaints and inquiries have been trending downwards,” said a May 11 report to council.
A sub-group of the city’s education and enforcement working group, one of the task forces established to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzed the feedback received through the COVID compliance hotline and email. It found that the number of complaints and inquiries peaked at 44 on April 10 (Good Friday) but did not hit double digits during the first six days of May – and received no complaints or inquiries on May 2.
City staff, however, anticipates calls and emails could increase again when the city and province begin to reopen different industries and facilities. As part of the province’s Restart B.C. plan, a variety of sectors will begin to resume operations in the coming weeks and months.
“The most common type of COVID-19 related complaint type has related to park facility closures (16.3% of complaints and inquiries),” said an update from the education and enforcement task force. “These complaints and inquiries have usually involved people going into closed park areas, but sometimes into closed school grounds (e.g. playgrounds.) The next most common type of complaint type is businesses not physical distancing (15.9% of complaints and inquiries,) followed by people not physical distancing in parks (12.8% of complaints and inquiries.)”
To reach the COVID compliance hotline to report a concern with public health orders, call 604-636-4343 or email [email protected].
