Editor's Note -- Weekly Column by Quesnel City Council, as written by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson. He can be reached via email here
By all accounts Quesnel businesses and households are doing what we need to do at this time: hunkering down, staying distant, and taking all the measures necessary to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Thank you!
Council also wants to thank all of the essential service workers who are not only continuing to serve our community but potentially risking their own health to do so. If you are one of these workers, please know that we do not take your personal risk for granted; we truly appreciate it and applaud it.
We may not be banging pots at 7 pm, but we hope you see more and more hearts being placed in the windows of homes throughout the community to show our heartful thanks for your service. (Quesnel residents: if you haven’t already, please place hearts in your window to show your personal support for our essential service workers!)
In most cases of emergency our essential service definition is rather narrowly defined as front line health care and public safety personnel and those who are directly dealing with the emergent situation, such as firefighters or public works personnel during floods. In this public health emergency, essential service work has a much broader meaning and includes people working in grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retail outlets that we still need to access at this time. The definition also includes truckers, food growers and distributers, and restaurant/fast food workers who continue to provide ready-made meals for pick-up or delivery.
Teachers and childcare workers, along with staff in our social services agencies and not for profits are also now essential service personnel. As are our City and Regional District staff and crews and Ministry of Transportation personnel (especially since winter still has a hold on us!).
If someone is still working and serving the public at this time, they most likely fall into the essential service designation, please take the time to thank them, recognize that they are risking exposure to the virus throughout their work day, and minimize that exposure by taking the necessary steps to remain distant and minimize your contact with them.
It’s important to note that this current state of emergency is also fundamentally different from what we’ve, unfortunately, become used to in our region over the past few years of fires and floods. Since it is a public health emergency and not a response to a physical threat such as a fire or flood, it means that the City and the Cariboo Regional District have fundamentally different roles to play. Rather than being a lead agency we are in a supportive role, both by continuing to provide essential services and by acting as a coordinating agency through our Emergency Operations Centre.
The Province and the Health Authorities are the lead agencies during this pandemic, not local governments. However, the Province has kept local governments fully apprised of both what is going on and what role we need to play through daily briefings and updates for staff and weekly conference calls for Mayors and Regional District Chairs with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and other Ministers as needed.
Please be assured that the City of Quesnel is fully engaged in this public health emergency and we have the tools and information we need from the Province to play our role. We also have a strong relationship with Northern Health and will continue to proactively partner with them throughout this pandemic.
So, let’s stay the course and continue to follow the directions of BC’s Public Health officials: remain physically distant, stay home as much as possible, follow all sanitation procedures, and work together to continue to stop the spread of this virus.
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