The provincial government announced on Tuesday, March 16th, that it has formally extended BC’s state of emergency.
It will continue through the end of the day on March 30th.
This marks the 26th declaration so far.
A provincial declaration of a state of emergency allows the province to implement provincial emergency measures and access assets that may be necessary to prevent, respond to or alleviate the effects of an emergency.
This week, the province marks a year since Dr. Bonnie Henry declared a public health emergency in response to COVID-19.
“British Columbians have been living with the challenges of COVID-19 for more than a year, and while our lives have changed, our resolve has not,” said Premier John Horgan.
The original declaration was made on March 18th, 2020, the day after Henry declared a public health emergency.
“Although this has been a challenging year, the best is still before us. If we continue to focus on keeping ourselves and our communities safe by following the orders and restrictions in place, we will end this state of emergency,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
“I want to thank the majority of people in B.C. who are following the rules. For those who don’t, our compliance and enforcement officers have the tools they need to enforce the orders. Know that if you break the rules, you will face consequences.”
The Province, together with law enforcement, continues to enforce measures under the Emergency Program Act (EPA) to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“We need to keep following public health orders so we can all get through this next period safely until more vaccines are ready,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
“In the meantime, orders will continue to be enforced for those who refuse to do their part and risk undoing the progress we’ve made so far.”
According to the province, 1,058 violation tickets for contraventions of provincial guidelines were issued from August 21st, 2020 to February 12th, 2021.
Police have issued 94 violation tickets, totalling $102,695, to individuals who were in violation of the Federal Quarantine Act.
Further extensions of the provincial state of emergency can be made for periods of up to 14 days at a time.
