Were you excited to hear about B.C.'s restart plan?
While many British Columbians were elated to hear the province plans to reopen this summer, others expressed mixed reactions.
On Tuesday (May 25), provincial officials revealed B.C.'s restart plan, which outlines the new guidance on personal and organized gatherings.
As long as everything goes according to plan – meaning cases of COVID-19 continue to trend down – health officials envision British Columbians will have mostly "normal social contact" by the first week of September.
But an uptick in cases could mean that B.C. will reinstate restrictions before the summer ends.
While he expressed optimism for the days and weeks ahead, Premier John Horgan reminded people that the restart plan is contingent on "data," not just dates.
"And Dr. Henry reinforced [that] it's not just dates – it's dates and data," he said. "And so we have been following the numbers – all of us in B.C. regularly tuning in to hear Minister Dix and Dr. Henry layout the state of play on a daily basis and then on a biweekly basis."
The premier added that people need to continue to register to get vaccinated as B.C.'s rate of vaccination is the "biggest" and "fastest route to success."
The provincial rate of vaccination is a key factor in the restart plan's success
Provincial officials will continue to monitor what's happening in businesses and communities and reaching out to "stakeholders to talk to them about what we can do to help them reduce barriers to get back into the place we were in, back at the beginning of 2020," explained Horgan.
"We're looking for ways to reduce impediments that start with vaccinations and really quite frankly ends with vaccinations," he said.
Another key factor in the success of B.C.'s restart plan?
"The good sense of British Columbians," said the premier.
"I'm confident that our plan will take us to where we need to get to, provided that everyone's onboard and I know British Columbians want to work together as we have for the past 15 months."
B.C.'s Restart – a four-step plan to bring B.C. back together – will be a slow and gradual return to a more normal life, with safety and health protocols such as mask-wearing and physical distancing remaining in place and mandatory during the initial two steps of the plan.
