April 17 marks one month since a public health emergency was declared in B.C. Change has come fast and – to many business owners, frontline workers and parents now working from home – hard.
In one month we’ve gone from living in a society rich with democratic liberties to one in which quarantine baking has become a favourite pastime followed closely by shaming people for exercising their constitutionally-enshrined freedom of movement.
Opining about the changes confronting us almost daily is one approach to wrapping one’s head around it all, but why not just let those changes speak for themselves.
So without further ado, here’s what happened on the Sunshine Coast in one month (and one day), if you can believe it.
• Monday, March 16: Provincial health order prohibits gathering of more than 50 people at events.
• Tuesday, March 17: Public Health Emergency declared, public health order requires travellers returning to Canada to self-isolate for 14 days, public health order requires bars and nightclubs to close, all in-class instruction at Sunshine Coast School District No. 46 suspended indefinitely, and travel-related cases of COVID-19 confirmed on the Sunshine Coast.
• Wednesday, March 18: Provincial state of emergency declared.
• Saturday, March 21: BC Ferries cuts back on sailings, after traffic drops 40 per cent.
• Saturday, March 21: Public health order requires personal service establishments to close.
• Monday, March 23: Respiratory Assessment Clinic opens in Sechelt, B.C.’s COVID-19 Action Plan released, including $5 billion financial relief, and Sunshine Coast Tourism asks visitors to stay away.
• Tuesday, March 24: Town of Gibsons announces closure of public water fountains.
• Wednesday, March 25: District of Sechelt puts budget on hold.
• Thursday, March 26: Harbour Air announces it is suspending scheduled service, and Vancouver Coastal Health doctor says less than one per cent of COVID-19 cases in the VCH region are on the Sunshine Coast, including Powell River.
• Friday, March 27: Public health order limits farmers’ market vendors to selling food and beverages only.
• Tuesday, March 31: SCRD passes revised budget after back-to-back emergency meetings to lower the tax increase.
• Saturday, April 4: BC Ferries cuts sailings on the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay route to six round-trips per day, with visitor screening to follow.
• Wednesday, April 8: BC Parks closes all provincial parks, and survey shows that 85 per cent of Sunshine Coast businesses have experienced revenue loss.
• Monday, April 13: Coast residents protest influx of visitors over Easter. Number of travellers using BC Ferries on Route 3 fell to 3,911 over the long weekend from 21,398 over the same period in 2019.
Enough said. Best of luck, everyone, for month two. And happy baking.
