Community Message from Mayor Dooley: COVID-19

As you are aware, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global pandemic in relation to COVID-19. While the risk to our community remains low, it is important for our community to know that the City of Nelson is being proactive and taking precautionary measures to the extent possible to reduce the potential spreading of the virus.

First and foremost, our role as your local government is to support our community by helping to protect our staff through a safe and healthy workplace, to ensure that essential and valuable services such as electricity, water, sewer, emergency services, etc. continue to be available with as little disruption as possible. The City has developed business continuity plans for all of our departments and is providing the necessary education and tools to help our staff stay healthy.

As we head into spring break, BC health officials are discouraging all non-essential travel outside of Canada and have banned events larger than 250 people. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that anyone who travels outside of Canada should stay home from work or school for 14 days upon their return to the province, as part of their civic duty. We do understand many in our community will be travelling and ask that you review the advice and advisories from the Government of Canada at https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories.

The heart and soul of our community are our local businesses, and we all need to continue with business as usual at this time. We understand extra precautions may need to be taken in some cases, but if we are careful and take the time to thoroughly wash our hands, use hand sanitizer and keep a social distance of 3-6 ft (1-2meters), we will maintain the ability to visit retail and restaurants as normal. We also encourage businesses to share with the community on social media platforms and other means, what they are doing to protect their staff and customers as we move through this pandemic. Staff at the City of Nelson will continue to work closely with Emergency Management BC and Interior Health to provide updates as new information becomes available.

The City of Nelson relies on Interior Health, BC Public Health, and the Federal Government for information related to the virus itself. If you believe you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your physician, the Healthlink line at 811, to be assessed or call the testing clinic hotline at (250) 551-7500 to be triaged for testing. Symptoms of COVID-19 include coughing, sneezing, fever, sore throat, and difficulty breathing. These symptoms may not present themselves for up to 14 days, but you may be a carrier of the virus; therefore, it is important to follow the guidelines set out by the health experts.

We thank you for doing your part to help maintain a safe and healthy community and for understanding the importance of this evolving situation.