BC Greens call for stronger measures as BC's COVID challenges, case counts and variant concerns continue to rise

BC Green Leader 
Sonia Furstenau has a list
of ten measures her 
party wants to see in place
to address COVID in the province

With  daily reports of COVID-19 now marking a pace of 1,000 a day and variant cases now the focus for many across the province,  the BC Green Party has issued a call for the NDP Government to adopt some stronger measures to address the concerns of a growing number of British Columbians.

“British Columbians are angry, they are anxious, and they are scared. It is not enough to ask those who are still listening to get through the next couple of months. 

We urgently need a shift in government response. Instead of bracing for the impact of rising variants, we can mitigate it right now. 

British Columbians are looking for leadership, not complacency. It is time for the NDP to take ownership of the immense power they hold. 

They must take responsibility for our pandemic response, be willing to take bold action, and make the tough calls to protect all British Columbians."  -- BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau today calling for a stronger approach on COVID in the province.

In a statement issued earlier today, the BC Greens outlined their ten key areas of note for additional measures across the province.

Create a clear and targeted shutdown strategy for a three-week period that includes: 

Enforcing non-essential travel measures. 

Moving school online for most students. 

Providing immediate government support to temporarily close non-essential businesses. 

Increase transparency and revamp public communications by: 

Resuming daily COVID-19 briefings. 

Publishing case numbers on weekends and holidays. 

Extending media availability. 

Adopting new messaging outside of press conferences to target non-compliers. 

Increase testing and vaccination capacity by: 

Expanding asymptomatic testing and rapid testing in workplaces, schools, businesses, and neighbourhoods. 

Improving reporting on variants of concern. 

Increasing staffing at vaccination clinics and extending hours to administer all doses as soon as they arrive in province.

Ms. Furstenau also noted that many of the current troubles that face the province stem from government inaction and mis-steps over the last few months.

“We were not dealt a bad hand - we loosened restrictions despite rising variant cases, allowed out-of-province travel, stalled in-school mask mandates, and did not enforce orders or tailor messaging to hit those who have not been following orders. This third wave is the outcome of that inaction. 

Neither the methods nor the messaging are working. It cannot only be up to individuals to deal with this crisis. We need a coordinated response and action from government that shows they are taking the immediate and long-term threat of COVID-19 seriously."

After a first year of mostly praise for the government's efforts, the ongoing concerns over COVID are clearly starting to take a toll on the residents of the province. 

A growing number of whom are showing signs of tuning out the message making from Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry.

Recent weeks have seen all three starting to see increased levels of push back from the media and  residents in British Columbia; a significant shift in the winds of COVID commentary found in the province from previous bouts of waves of the virus.

 

You can review more of the Green Party's recommendations to the government here.

A look at the past steps taken since January of 2020 can be reviewed here.

A wider overview of provincial themes is available from our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.