New BC Provincial Health Officer COVID-19 response orders announced November 7

For the latest COVID-19 information please refer to the BCIT COVID-19 website.

As many of you will have heard, the Provincial Health Officer issued updated COVID-19 response orders today for the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions (with the exception of Hope, the Central Coast, and the Bella Coola Valley). These regions include Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Richmond, Annacis Island, and all BCIT campus locations. These orders are in effect for two weeks beginning at 10 pm on November 7 and ending at 3 pm on November 23, 2020.

As a result, effective immediately:

  • Indoor recreational physical activities are suspended.
  • All Schools and Departments must continue to strictly adhere to their Safety Plans daily.
  • Planned and ongoing programs practicums, field trips, etc. are suspended.
  • Ongoing daily COVID-19 screening must continue. The Province of BC’s Self-Assessment Tool and downloadable BC COVID-19 Support app are a helpful resources for daily self-assessment.
  • Travel remains suspended.
  • All existing preventative measures including physical distancing, hygiene, and mask recommendations remain in place.
  • The School of Health Sciences remains an essential service and clinical programming will continue.

We wanted to share this information with everyone in our community as quickly as possible following its release. BCIT will review these new orders thoroughly and urgently to determine any other impacts on WorkSafe BC and other guidelines, or general activities or operations. We will continue to comply with all orders and provide updated information to our community as needed to safeguard community safety and wellness.

As of now, all on-campus and remote BCIT programming continues across all BCIT campuses.

You can view the Provincial Health Officer’s announcement and orders here. We will continue to update you on these and any future measures.

While these orders may be challenging for some of our students, faculty, and staff, it is important that we all comply to keep ourselves and each other safe during this global pandemic. We are all in this together and we will get through this more successfully if we support and look out for each other.

Stay safe and well.

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