Provincial health officer defends order that limits 50 vehicles at all drive-in and entertainment venues

Four more people have died from COVID-19 in BC since Saturday, all of them at the Langley Lodge long term care home. There were 12 new cases of the virus reported, including one in the Island Health region. There are currently 267 active COVID-19 cases, with two in Island Health. There have been no new cases reported at any of the community outbreaks in poultry plants, federal prisons or a fruit packing plant in Abbotsford. The Provincial Health Officer says consumers should not be worried about eating any of the products from these facilities. Dr. Bonnie Henry says there have been no cases of COVID-19 linked to food or food packaging.Meanwhile, Dr. Henry is defending her recent order that limits 50 vehicles at all drive-ins and other entertainment venues. The provincial health officer received a deluge of letters from unhappy organizers over the weekend, after her order forced the cancellation of a large in-car concert in Prince George. Henry says she made the decision because of the high risk of transmission and to ensure there would be timely contact tracing if someone at an event tests positive for the virus. She admonished her critics, saying they need to "take a deep breath. These events are not things that are to be got around. It's about having a reasonable approach that can be sustained." Henry says she will revisit the issue in consultation with the sector in a month from now, after seeing the results of opening restaurants and retail businesses.Staff at Vancouver Island University have stepped up to create much-needed supplies for health care providers. VIU's chemistry department is making hand-sanitizer for long term care homes in the Nanaimo region. The Engineering Department has made 250 face masks using 3-D printers. They are being used by the Nanaimo Division of Family Practise, the Arrowsmith Lodge and are being evaluated at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. The Faculties of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Science and Technology have donated 800 transparency shields that go with the face masks and a technician in the IT department at the Cowichan campus is 3-D printing headbands for face shields for use in health care settings in the Cowichan Valley.Thousands of British Columbians crashed a government website this morning, just minutes after it opened to take parks reservations. The Minister responsible apologized to the unhappy campers. George Heyman says the reservation portal crashed when 50,000 requests were made at once, but the site is working well now. He says 35,000 successful reservations were confirmed by noon today, which is a record for BC and double the record set by Parks Canada. Those who were unable to make a booking can try again tomorrow when the system will begin taking reservations from July the 25th onward. The pent up demand comes as the province announced overnight camping in provincial parks will begin on June the 1st and is for BC residents only.Written and reported by: Lisa Cordasco, News Director for CHLY 101.7FM.Have a tip? Email: [email protected] Find us on social media at Twitter: @lisacordasco / @chly1017FMFunded by Sustaining Donors and the Community Radio Fund of Canada and Heritage Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative. Sustain CHLY’s News Department for many years to come by signing up for a monthly Sustaining Donation.