*Submitted by the City of Nelson, March 30 at 5:30 p.m*
COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPDATE #10 – CITY OF NELSON
Nelson, BC – Mayor and Council would like to thank the community for their continued efforts to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As challenging as things are, we should all be proud of our collective actions as they are slowly working to flatten the curve of this virus. We, as a community, need to remain vigilant and 100% committed to following the advice and orders laid out by the Province to stay on track. The next two to three weeks may be the most crucial timeframe. Please, stay home if you can. Wash your hands frequently. Social distance if you must go out. Only send one person from your household to get groceries, and limit this to once a week.
Our Emergency Operations Centre and City staff continue to work with multiple agencies throughout the province and Nelson to prepare and respond to this crisis. While the City continues to provide the valuable services to our community, we are also coordinating and planning in the event the situation escalates.
In today’s update, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said “We are not through the storm yet. We have not yet reached our peak. This is the critical time. Every person needs to do their bit.” She added “There is no community that is immune to this virus.”
The BC Government has provided the following information today:
COVID-19 Cases:
- Total cases in BC to date: 970
o 472 in Vancouver Coastal Health
o 363 in Fraser Health
o 67 in Island Health
o 94 in Interior Health
o 14 in Northern Health
- Total recovered cases in BC: 469
- Total fatalities in BC to date: 19
- Total cases in Canada to date: 7447
- Total fatalities in Canada to date: 89
Update from West Kootenay Transit:
In light of COVID-19 West Kootenay Transit is asking that passengers limit trips to only those that are absolutely necessary and are point “A to B” in nature. Effective March 30, 2020, BC transit has also implemented a maximum number of passengers that are allowed on a bus at any given time.
Larger Nova buses – Maximum of 20 passengers.
Smaller Vicinity buses – Maximum of 11 passengers.
Loitering passengers may be asked to leave the bus to protect the safety of others.
Announcement from School District 8 – Essential Worker Designation Form
Following the direction of the Ministry of Education, SD8 Kootenay Lake is developing a plan to provide on-site educational instruction for children of Medical and Health Care Essential Workers. On-site educational instruction for children of essential workers applies to students in Grades K-6.
Services will be provided daily (7 days per week) 24 hours per day for Medical and Healthcare Essential Service workers’ children (K-6). The two School District 8 designated school facilities will be, as of April 3rd:
Nelson – South Nelson Elementary School: 814 Latimer Street
Creston – Adam Robertson Elementary School: 421-9th Avenue North
In addition to students from School District 8, those from Independent Schools are welcome to attend. If you are an essential worker, and you are requesting to have your child (ren) considered for on-site educational programming, please complete this form. This will help SD8 Kootenay Lake in its efforts to safely apply health and safety protocols as defined by the Provincial Medical Health Officer.
For more information go to: Deadline to Apply: April 3rd
COVID-19 & Retail Food and Grocery Stores:
As we continue our efforts to manage and contain the COVID-19 pandemic, retail food and grocery stores play an essential service in every community by ensuring safe and reliable access to food, supplies and other provisions. The province has issued a set of guidelines for retail food and grocery stores to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.Read more here.
Managing COVID-19 Stress, Anxiety & Depression:
News and information about the spread of COVID-19 is coming at us quickly. It can be hard to remain calm given all that is going on. Stress, anxiety, and depression are not unusual for people of all ages. But there are things we can do as individuals and collectively to deal with stress and support one another during these challenging times. Read more here.
Use reliable sources of information will ensure that what you do learn is fact, not fear-based.
If You Need Help HealthLink BC provides 24/7, confidential health information and advice.
Call 8-1-1 www.healthlinkbc.ca
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Reminders:
To help provide important information to our community, the City of Nelson has developed a dedicated webpage nelson.ca/covid19 that will be updated frequently as new information becomes available. Please sign-up for ‘City News’ on NotifyMe to receive automatic updates from the City via text or email.
The City of Nelson relies on Interior Health, BC Public Health, and the Federal Government for information related to the virus itself. If you believe you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your physician, or call the COVID-19 telephone line at 1-888-COVID19, to be assessed or call the testing clinic hotline at (250) 551-7500 to be triaged for testing. Symptoms of COVID-19 include coughing, fever, sore throat, and difficulty breathing. These symptoms may not present themselves for up to 14 days, but you may be a carrier of the virus; therefore it is important to follow the guidelines set out by the health experts.
To check your symptoms or get updates from the BC Government you can download the BC COVID-19 App or visit this website
We thank you for doing your part to help maintain a safe and healthy community and for understanding the importance of this evolving situation.
Information from the BC Center for Disease Control on COVID-19