Everyone in British Columbia whoâs been longing for a hug since the COVID-19 pandemic began will soon get their wish â with some limitations.
Marking 100 days since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the province, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced B.C.âs multi-phase reopening plan for the coming weeks and months.
âWe have been successful as a province, extraordinarily successful by comparison to other jurisdictions in the world,â Horgan told reporters during a news conference Wednesday. âBut we canât give up the ground weâve made.â
The curve has been flattening for some time in the province. While outbreaks continue to propel growth in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, B.C. has seen its case rates sharply decline over the past month. On Tuesday, the province reported only eight new cases of COVID-19.
âAll of this has been accomplished without a full lockdown,â Horgan said in a press conference Wednesday, acknowledging that B.C. has not shut down many services like other provinces.
Wednesdayâs reopening plan featured information on restaurants reopening, dental offices firing up their chairs and when people can finally see a barber to fix those regrettable quarantine haircuts.
But one point in the phased reopening stood out to everyone longing for just the slightest bit of human connection â weâre going to get to hug people again.
Yes, an honest-to-goodness hug. With another human being. Who possibly doesnât even live in the same home as you.
Honestly, Iâm tearing up just thinking about it.
Of course, B.C. residents are not all suddenly being encouraged to hug every stranger we see on the street or partake in massive group hugs. But the reopening plan does mean that people can start slowly and safely to expand their social networks a little bit when âphase twoâ kicks off in mid-May.
And unlike other provinces, like New Brunswick, which pioneered the idea of âdoubling your bubbleâ where families can socialize with a single other family, B.C.âs rules are a bit looser.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Bonnie Henry says it comes down to common sense as to how much and with whom you expand your circle.
âIf you expand your circle, you need to do it thoughtfully and you need to understand the risk in your family,â she said.
The province says small indoor and outdoor gatherings of two to six people with friends and family are ok, so long as everyone is asymptomatic and not immunocompromised. Larger gatherings under 50 people will be allowed in restaurants, retailers and religious spaces so long as social distancing is maintained.
Horgan outlined playdates and small gatherings with friends both indoors and outdoors as activities that could return in the coming weeks, so long as theyâre done in small numbers.
âKeep the gatherings small, and use your common sense,â he said.
And as long as youâre doing it safely and smartly, the option to hug and socialize with close family and friends will even be a reality in time for Motherâs Day.
âKeep the gatherings small, and use your common sense.â
âIf your circle has been tight, then hug your mom,â Horgan said. âBut if your mom has a compromised immune system, itâs best to keep that distance.â
Horgan warned that itâs not going to be a sudden return to normal, but that people in the province can slowly start rebuilding social contacts.
âIt wonât be the flipping of a switch. Weâll be proceeding carefully bit by bit, one step at a time,â he said. âIf we lose this discipline, everything weâve worked for will be lost.â
So B.C., get ready to love again, get ready to hug again.
But keep in mind Henryâs mantra throughout the pandemic â âbe kind, be calm, and be safeâ about it.
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