Northern Health urges Prince George to use COVID caution over long weekend

Northern Health is urging residents not to let their guard down on COVID-19 prevention, heading into the Family Day and Valentine’s Day long weekend.

The region continues to see a surge in COVID-19 activity, related hospitalizations, and an increase in COVID-19 related deaths, with the region’s death toll currently 92.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced on February 5th, that all current province-wide public health orders are being kept in place, until further notice.

During her announcement, she added that she hopes to ease restrictions at the end of the month if the transmission rates decrease.

“Gatherings and social interactions continue to result in COVID-19 transmissions in the north, but the community-level spread of the virus is also a risk given our current rates of COVID-19 activity,” said NH Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Jong Kim. “We truly need Northern BC residents to stay focused on prevention and protecting themselves and their loved ones, through the Family Day holiday and into the spring.”

Northern Health is asking residents to act responsibly and to play your part in limiting the spread of the virus in the following ways:

• No social gatherings of any size; social interactions and gatherings are limited to those in your immediate household only
• Travel for essential purposes only; people should not travel to visit others, unless it is urgently required or essential
• Wearing a mask in indoor public spaces; masks are required for everyone in all indoor public settings, workplaces and retail stores
• Staying home if you are sick

“Our long winter, and even longer battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, is wearing on us all,” acknowledged Northern Health Board chair, Colleen Nyce, “as Family Day and even Spring Break approach, we must resist the temptation to gather maintain our focus on COVID-19 prevention, for our own safety and to ease the strain on health care providers who are working incredibly hard through this challenging time.”