Coronavirus: Revelstoke, B.C., trying to balance between safety, supporting businesses

There’s no shortage of out-of-province licence plates in the small B.C. resort town of Revelstoke, where vehicles from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec can be seen.

Under normal circumstances, visitors are welcomed. But with the coronavirus pandemic still raging, out-of-province plates are a concern.

“Ultimately, we would have liked that they not come in the first place,” Revelstoke mayor Gary Sulz told Global News on Friday.

“But if they’re here, then we ask them to follow the rules to make sure that they keep safe.”

Earlier this week, Interior Health flagged a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Revelstoke — 37 people between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2 — with no common cause.

It comes less than a month after the region contained a cluster connected to more than four dozen people.

“The community is definitely COVID exhausted,” said Sulz.

“We’ve done everything that we can to keep ourselves safe. And when we see people coming in from out of the community, or others that are social gathering, we get disappointed.”

Also Friday, Interior Health announced that seven more cases at Big White Ski Resort, pushing the total number of cases there to 143.

0:24 Revelstoke seeing increased COVID-19 activity again

Big White also announced Friday that it was cancelling all reservations by non-local residents for the next month.

Meanwhile, Revelstoke mountain resort says it doesn’t track everybody’s address and doesn’t necessarily know where people are from.

“We don’t have control over all of the accommodation that feeds this town, whereas Big White does,” said Peter Nielsen, vice-president of operations at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, adding the ski hill is following provincial guidelines.

“I can say our ticket visitation is down over 60 per cent.”

1:04 Revelstoke mayor urges tourists to stay away as local cluster grows

The mayor says some residents want no tourists and that B.C.’s border should be closed. Others, though, say visitors are welcome.

“For the businesses in town, they want to survive, so we do need them,” said resident Donna Zmaeff.

“On the other hand, though, we’re all kind of nervous about them, bringing COVID here, because they’re leaving the areas that are rampant with COVID.”