Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Ashley Legassic

COVID-19

Kamloops mayor says majority of residents followed health orders over long weekend

Apr 14, 2020 | 11:04 AM

KAMLOOPS — The mayor of Kamloops is praising locals for staying home and distancing themselves over the Easter long weekend.

Just before Good Friday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry urged residents across B.C. to stay home to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian says the City of Kamloops bylaw services department responded to 17 complaints related to social-distancing over the weekend.

“Seven of those were in public places and 10 of them were in private places or businesses, so clearly people are getting the message and where they aren’t — just a call from our bylaws department corrected those situations,” Christian says. “We had, I think, three calls at McArthur Island, one at Riverside Park, and one at the Juniper Bike Ranch, but for the most part people were staying away and when there were groups of people together they were family units, and they’re allowed to be together. So I think the citizens of Kamloops are acting responsibly and they’re doing their part to bend this curve.”

Christian says bylaw officers have been patrolling in the downtown corridor and along Tranquille Road.

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“We’re doing our foot patrols of public washrooms, we’re also down in Riverside Park and Pioneer Park and McArthur Island a lot,” he says, “and then the rest of the city by complaint, so we have quite a presence with our bylaw team and they’re certainly doing a lot of wellness checks with street-affected individuals.”

Christian adds that, as far as Easter long weekends go, this was one of the slowest in recent memory in Kamloops.

“Certainly the highway was a bit busier and some of the facilities like gas stations and fast food outlets were busier, but nothing compared to what would even be a normal day in Kamloops under other circumstances.”