A message from Mayor McCormick - March 27th, 2020

Posted:

Viruses don’t travel, people do.

Please be advised that for at least the next month the City of Kimberley is discouraging all non-essential visitor traffic as we cope with the consequences of COVID-19.

We know that the virus is in our community, but lack of broad testing makes it invisible.  Our primary concern is for Kimberley’s more than 2,000 residents that are in the vulnerable category. One recent quote I’ve heard is that ‘viruses don’t travel, people do.’ Visitors entering the community are potential carriers of the virus that puts this group at further risk. We are less concerned that travelers are at risk of getting sick than we are that they are carriers of the virus.

The second key consideration is our healthcare facilities.  We are a rural community without a hospital. We rely on the regional hospital in Cranbrook whose facilities, in the event of a chronic increase in critical cases, cannot carry the increased load that additional visitors bring.  This puts everyone at a much higher level of risk.

I appreciate the business concerns this pandemic is causing.  However, it will only make it worse if non-essential traffic continues to come here.

Given all of this, we are telling anyone considering coming to Kimberley – or this region for that matter – to please stay home until we weather this pandemic.  Self quarantine at home is the way we will beat this thing sooner than later.

We are monitoring status with each update from our Provincial Health Officer. Although we do not know exactly when we can begin to promote travel again, rest assured it will be as soon as it is safe to do so.

Thank you for doing your part to keep Kimberley safe and your contribution to flattening the curve. We are making on impact on the numbers in BC.  If we continue to be vigilant and listen to Dr. Henry we will successfully get through this.