B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is asking the province to consider a “region-by-region” approach to reopening the province to speed up recovery in areas with few cases of COVID-19.
In a letter sent to Premier John Horgan, Wilkinson says easing restrictions on Vancouver Island and in the Okanagan, Kootenays and northern B.C. would help the tourism sector.
“The B.C. Liberal Caucus has been reaching out directly to British Columbians throughout this pandemic,” Wilkinson writes.
“It is clear, based on their feedback, that despite having lower COVID-19 case counts, certain regions are being hit disproportionately harder by the economic impacts that have resulted from sector-wide closures.”
Just one case of the illness has been confirmed in the Island Health Authority since May 3. There have been just five new cases in Interior Health since May 15 and four new cases in Northern Health since May 17.
Despite the low numbers, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province will not ease restrictions as Wilkinson suggests because not everyone stays at home all the time.
“We don’t want to give this virus those opportunities to start spreading,” she said during her daily news conference on Tuesday.
“We need to think about where we can find that balance of stopping the transmission … but also reducing the unintended negative consequences on everybody else from the restrictive measures that are put in place.”
Henry said she doesn’t see any evidence that would dictate a regional approach to easing restrictions.
“I believe one of the things that has allowed us to manage this pandemic in the way we have had and keep our numbers low is having a coordinated provincial approach,” she added.
“I don’t feel there is a differential risk right now. At this point, this approach has really served us well.”
Wilkinson and the B.C. Liberals are raising the issue now with the tourism industry in mind, as we head into the summer.
More than 19,000 tourism businesses operate in British Columbia, employing more than 160,000 people and generating more than $20 billion in revenue each year. The industry has been ravaged by COVID-19 and is expected to continue to struggle with no significant international visits this summer.
And according to the B.C. Liberals, nearly half of B.C.’s tourism businesses (42 per cent) are outside of the Lower Mainland.