by: lisa cordasco
victoria — corinne lea, the owner of the rio theatre, said she’s “over the moon” at b.c.’s decision to require proof of vaccination to get into bars, restaurants, theatres, exercise classes and a range of other non-essential services.
“all of us in the arts and entertainment industry had such a horrible last year and a half of random closures and uncertainty,” lea said. “i’m so glad the government stepped up and made a firm decision.
“now, finally, the majority of our society who have been vaccinated can all band together, we can group and gather together, and have a good time and get our lives back together and those who choose not to participate, that’s their choice.”
while most business groups lauded what premier john horgan called a “temporary” measure as b.c. struggles with the “high risk” fourth wave of covid-19, not all businesses and individuals were happy with monday’s announcement.
also monday, the b.c. health ministry announced there were 1,711 new cases of covid-19 detected on friday and the weekend. that included 768 cases in interior health, 419 cases in fraser health and 290 cases in coastal health.
under the b.c. proposal, patrons will have to show government-provided proof of having received one shot of covid vaccine starting on sept. 13. starting on oct. 24, they will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated with two doses.