Park Board rangers to enforce public health orders at Vancouver parks this weekend

Apr 17 2021, 12:00 am

With warm, sunny weather in Vancouver’s weekend forecast, it’s a given many people will be making the most of it by getting outside and heading to one of the city’s numerous parks.

And with this in mind, the Vancouver Park Board (VPB) is letting people know that park rangers will also be out, ensuring that COVID-19 protocols are being followed and restrictions are being adhered to.

“Park Rangers will be patrolling the beaches and parks this weekend, encouraging and educating the general public regarding social distancing, and the need to remain extra vigilant when it comes to social distancing and remaining within their core bubble,” the VPB told Daily Hive in an email.

If rangers encounter a group of individuals who are “blatantly disregarding the public health order and putting themselves and others at risk,” the rangers will “connect with VPD and ask them to attend to address the situation,” the VPB furthered.

To avoid these incidents, the VPB is reminding people of the steps they can take:

  • Keep at least 2 metres (6 feet) from others;
  • Visit parks and beaches during less busy times;
  • Limit the number of visits to parks and beaches to provide opportunities for others to access;
  • Stay within your core bubble and avoid gathering in groups;
  • Limit high-touch recreational activities such as volleyball or Frisbee;
  • Wash or sanitize hands after touching communal surfaces;
  • As always, anyone feeling sick, especially if coughing or experiencing a fever, is asked to stay at home.

British Columbia health officials announced 1,005 new test-positive COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 117,080.

In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that broken down by specific health region, this equates to 259 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 536 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 49 in the Island Health region, 110 in the Interior Health region, 51 in the Northern Health region.

There are 10,081 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 15,877 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Of the active cases, 425 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 127 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been six new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,530 deaths in British Columbia.

There are currently 5,739 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed variants of concern in the province. Of the total cases, 212 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 3,858 cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 71 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 1,810 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

To date, 1,282,091 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, 87,970 of which are second doses, and 105,291 people who tested positive have recovered.

Eric ZimmerEric Zimmer

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