Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Jill Sperling

COVID-19

Kamloops bylaw officers respond to 29 complaints over non-compliance to isolation, distancing requirements

Apr 2, 2020 | 4:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — The role of bylaw officers in Kamloops has changed in the face of COVID-19.

Mayor Ken Christian says bylaw officers have received 27 complaints about people not adhering to physical distancing requirements.

Officers have also followed up on two complaints of people not self-isolating when required to do so.

Christian says people should be discerning about when to call in a complaint.

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“There are reasons why people might be out there, like a family unit for instance can be together,” he said. “I don’t think they necessarily go around looking for these complaints, but the area that is of most concern to me is people who are returning, and particularly those people who are returning from the United States who are not adhering to the two-week social isolation rule. That is risk-taking behaviour that puts the rest of the community at risk.”

Christian says bylaw officers will not be ticketing people for non-compliance.

However, Christian says the Public Health Office does have the authority to issue fines.

“They can do that for people who are really resisting complying,” he said. “For the most part we would use a progressive enforcement approach so that you would start with an education opportunity, and that’s really what our bylaw team is doing in terms of the wellness checks that we are continuously carrying out in the Downtown core and on the North Shore.”