Metlakatla closes the doors ... new measures in place in light of recent COVID reports in Prince Rupert and Lower Mainland

Holding off on the welcome for now, Metlakatla begins to
isolate itself owing to recent COVID results in BC

Concerns over the potential spread of COVID have seen the Metlakatla Governing Council announced some strong measures last week that in effect will isolate the community across the harbour from Prince Rupert from the rest of the Northwest and the province.

As of today, the community has imposed a range of measures for its members to take note of, and financial penalties for those who do not adhere to them.

In a message to the community from last week the Governing Council outlined the suspension of the Metlakatla Ferry Service to and from the community; included in the suspension of service is the school run, a decision which will see Metlakatla students remain in the community for schooling.

As a result of that decision, the Metlakatla Education Department will be working on transitioning all students to a remote learning environment.

Other measures include:

Allowing only residents of Metlakatla into the community, with staff from outside the community not permitted to travel to Metlakatla unless for emergency purposes as deemed necessary by the executive committee.

As per health guidelines and the current outbreak in the Lower mainland, residents who travel outside of the Northwest will be required to self-isolate in Prince Rupert for 14 days.

Towards enforcement of their measures, the Metlakatla Governing Council has put in place a fine of 500 dollars for the following offfences:

Anyone who brings a non-resident into the community

Anyone who hosts a large gathering or party in their home

The Metlakatla moves come following news of late last month, when there were two reports of COVID in Prince Rupert, one from a retail store and the other at a local school. 

So far those are the only two confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the community, as we noted last week, as of the end of October, the BC Centre for Disease Control had listed five cases of COVID in the Prince Rupert region since January.

You can review the announcement of November 12th from the Metlakatla website or Facebook page.

For more items of note from Metlakatla see our archive page here.

A review of the latest COVID related notes from the Province of British Columbia can be found from our COVID archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.