The City of New Westminster is considering its next moves in response to the province’s Restart B.C. plan.
Announced Wednesday by Premier John Horgan, the plan proposes a gradual lifting of restrictions to allow for more social and economic activity, while closely monitoring health information to minimize the risk to the public.
"Our plan puts safety first. British Columbians have made enormous sacrifices so far, and it's thanks to them that we're able to begin to lift some restrictions," Horgan said. "We'll allow activities to resume as the evidence and experts tell us it is appropriate to do so. By moving carefully and deliberately, we will help British Columbians get to a 'new normal,' where more of our social and economic life can resume."
Because not all sectors were closed by public health orders, B.C. is currently in Phase 1 of the restart plan. Phase 2, which will get underway in mid-May, will allow: small social gatherings; a resumption of elective surgeries; regulated health services like physiotherapy, dentistry, chiropractors and in-person counselling; provincial parks open for day use. More non-essential businesses, including office-based worksites; hair salons, barbers and other personal service establishments; restaurants, cafes and pubs (with sufficient distancing measures); and museums, art galleries and libraries are also permitted to open in Phase 2.
“My take is that this is not going to be a like a light switch where we just turn back to exactly the way things were before,” Mayor Jonathan Cote told the Record. “It does look like we are laying out a plan in this province to, in a phased process, start to get back to normal, start to rebuild. And then I think people can start to expect some things coming back to normal, but it’s not going to be overnight.”
As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of New Westminster closed various facilities, such as city hall, libraries, Anvil Centre and recreation facilities. In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, the city also closed some features in local parks, including tennis courts, lacrosse boxes, playgrounds and skate parks.
“I think we are going to be spending some time over the next week to really make sure we understand what the provincial directions are, and how that applies to city parks and facilities,” Cote said. “I’m anticipating that our outdoor park spaces will be some of the first spaces that we will start to see open up in the community.”
Over the coming weeks, the city will have to look at how some of its indoor facilities will need to be operated, Cote said.
Cote said the details about New Westminster’s response to the Restart Plan will be determined in the coming weeks as the city gets a better understanding of the phased plan.
In an effort to promote compliance with physical distancing requirements, the city launched a compliance hotline. It also reassigned some existing staff into newly created roles as “physical distancing champions” who model and support appropriate physical distancing in the community.
“It’s still going to be important that citizens maintain their social distancing and avoid certain activities,” Cote said. “I would suspect some of those activities will start to be phased back from a community perspective, but … even though our province has done very well, we need to recognize COVID-19 still exists. There still is a concern that there could be future waves, and the actions we take now are really important to make sure we continue to have the positive health numbers we are seeing in the province.”
Cote commended local residents for doing their part to abide by restrictions introduced by the province and the provincial health officer to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“I think we are in a good position in our province, and that’s many thanks to the dedication of residents who really took this health crisis seriously,” he said. “We know it has caused a lot of anxiety in the community and certainly a lot of disruptions. I think we are all eager to be trying to get back to normal and start some of our normal activities again.”
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city created a number of task forces to consider specific areas of concern, including one dealing with business and the working economy.
While some of the working groups have started to wind down, including a human resources group that coordinated a work-at-home plan for city staff, Cote said others will carry on as needed. He suspects the task force on the local economy will carry on for some time because COVID-19 will continue to have economic impacts on local businesses.
“It does look like in May a lot of these businesses are going to be in a position to be able to start to reopen,” he said. “It does look like there may be some changes in how they need to operate their business. I think that there’s a way for the city to help support both in education, but also to help facilitate businesses to being able to operate under the ‘new normal’ so that they can get back to being able to serve the community.”
For the Restart Plan to be successful, the provincial government states it will be “crucial” for British Columbians to maintain a strong emphasis on personal hygiene, including hand washing, physical distancing and staying at home if they are sick and to do this during every phase of the plan.
If transmission rates remain low or decline, Phase 3, which includes the opening up of additional businesses and services, such as movie theatres, film production, and post-secondary and K to 12 education, is targeted to start between June and September. Phase 4, which includes large gatherings such as concerts, conventions, and professional sports with a live audience, and international tourism) will only be achieved when the threat of COVID-19 has been significantly diminished through widespread vaccination, broad successful treatments and evidence of community immunity, or the equivalent.
