Thought of the Day - May 7 2021 - BC's Re-Reopening Plan

Guess what the title of the blog article was one year ago? You got it - BC's Reopening Plan ( Thought of the Day - May 7 - BC's Re-Opening Plan ).

Remember the chart:

It is good to see that other than items under 'To be determined' much of the rest came to pass and has largely continued to remain open, albeit with a number of operating restrictions.

It is also interesting to see what was not on the chart: Travel. Restricting travel is the main practice that has been introduced since BCs first wave, and is the main focus of our current wave management.

Official daily cases in BC are currently running ten times higher than they were a year ago - indeed on the chart you can hardly see our first wave.

One reason for the difference is that we are currently conducting four times more tests per day. That said, as the positivity rate is still about the same at 7%, there are indeed more real cases. The good news is the number of daily cases in care homes is half what it was a year ago.

Cases and testing aside, the real comparison is the level of hospitalization. Last year about 75 people in BC were in hospital with COVID-19, at present that number is six times higher at 457.

Now the real reason for this note. A year ago at the time, when the first wave started to subside, the province had already articulated a re-opening plan. It is now three weeks until the current restrictions are set to expire, and new case figures show this wave is subsiding, yet this year our officials are less inclined to provide the same level of vision for the future.

This means it is hard for significantly-affected businesses such as bars/restaurants to plan ahead. The same is true for sports. Our sailing club for example has delayed training, racing is also on hold, and our cruise boat is only used by household bubbles, but it is difficult to tell our members when this may change.

Questions are being asked about US cross-border travel (our new tax on vacant or underused property in Canada owned by Americans has added fuel to the fire). Much of the US has already reopened, and social interaction rules are in place for those that have been vaccinated. The current US border closure extension is set to expire on May 21st. Thus, there is pressure for Canada to better articulate our plans (both at the national and provincial level), even if conditional.

While I may have missed a briefing, at present, I think, the current BC plan only runs through the long weekend. Let's hope we get a preview of the follow-on thinking soon.

Cheers

Cliff