People are free to travel by ferry to and from Alert Bay on Cormorant Island after a local state of emergency was lifted Saturday, but the village mayor is advising visitors and residents to stay home.
“We’re still encouraging people to do essential travel only,” said Alert Bay Mayor Dennis Buchanan on Wednesday. “We’re also asking them to keep social distancing, wash their hands regularly and stay home.”
The Village of Alert Bay, in co-operation with the ‘Namgis First Nation and the Whe-La-La-U Area Council, declared a local state of emergency on Cormorant Island on April 18. That allowed officials to invoke a 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. curfew and ban non-essential ferry travel, and came in addition to restrictions under a provincial state of emergency declared on March 18.
After a month of a siren blaring nightly at 9 p.m. to remind residents to be home within 30 minutes, there was silence on Sunday night.
Conservation officers who were stationed at the ferry terminal in Port McNeill — a 40-minute ferry ride to Cormorant Island — to check passengers for proof of residency or reasons for essential travel have been instructed to stand down.
Alert Bay has about 450 residents, while the ‘Namgis First Nations has about the same population. The rest of the island’s residents include about 250 First Nations members represented by the Whe-la-la-u Area Council, and a few dozen people in the Regional District of Mount Waddington. Buchanan says the combined total is about 1,200, though that number can vary.
From April 1 to May 3, the community saw 30 positive cases of COVID-19, according to Dr. Dan Cutfeet of the ‘Namgis Health Centre.
One woman who tested positive was sent to hospital in Nanaimo, where she later died. Two other residents who were at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on May 5 have since been released.
About 14 per cent of the island’s population has been tested for the novel coronavirus.
It’s been at least 12 days since there was a positive test for COVID-19 on the island, said Buchanan, who was concerned infections could rise again as residents leave the island to shop or visitors arrive.
Thus far, however, the ferries have not been as busy as expected, he said.
The mayor concedes he is bracing for the approaching long weekend, hoping the numbers remain low.
Asked on Tuesday about small and remote communities in B.C. asking visitors to stay away, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province remains in an “outbreak phase.” She noted that up to 400 people in the province are still recovering from COVID-19, and there are 20 outbreaks in long-term care and assisted-living facilities as well as acute-care hospitals.
“So right now, this weekend, stay close to home. Don’t go travelling.”
Once the economy gradually re-opens and the province heads into late May and June without major outbreaks, travel within the province will be reconsidered, she said.
Those who own a cottage in a small town and want to travel there should consider bringing their own food and supplies so as not to deplete local resources, she suggested.
“We need to think about having our summer vacation in B.C.,” said Henry. “That’s a way that we can keep each other safe, that we can support our local businesses, but we need to do it in a measured way and [be] mindful of the constraints that we have in some of our smaller communities.”
Henry said British Columbians also need to support First Nations’ desire to protect their communities.
“So don’t think about going to a First Nations community unless you are invited, and I think that’s something we need to be very sensitive through the summer as well.”
