Provincial state of emergency declared

Mar 18, 2020 | 12:53 PM

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has declared a provincial state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the globe.

This follows yesterday’s declaration by provincial senior health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, of a provincial health emergency.

Declaring a state of emergency allows the province to implement any provincial emergency measures required with access to land and human resource assets that may be necessary to prevent, respond to or alleviate the effects of an emergency.

This includes securing the critical supply chains to make sure people have access to essential goods and services, and that infrastructure necessary in a response is readily available.

“This is an all hands on deck approach,” Farnworth said.

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He says the legislature is being recalled Monday with a reduced number of MLAs to pass important legislation to expedite the response to the crisis and “give immediate relief to the people and businesses in our province.”

He said the new legislation will provide important employment supports for workers.

“At this juncture we need to ensure that we will continue to have the means to coordinate our response across governments, across industry and that we have the tools available to protect those who are most vulnerable,” he said. “I am declaring an official state of emergency to support our provincial health officer and Minister of Health in a swift and powerful response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He saod any and all resources will be used to keep people safe.

When asked about the problem of some people hoarding large quantities of food which has led to some empty store shelves, Farnworth said he understood concerns about having enough supplies if they have to self isolate.

“But the reality is this, our supply chains are in good shape,” he stressed. “People need to use common sense.

“We are working both at the federal level and provincial level with the Retail Council (of Canada).”

He said many stores are now putting limits on specific items to prevent shortages.

“Now is the time to be kind, to be calm and most of all to be safe,” he said.

by Kate Bouey

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