Weekend like Mother’s Day in July
The waterfront promenade at City Park was busier on Sunday than it normally is at the height of summer, automated people meters indicate.
A total of 5,528 people either walked or cycled along the path. Daily crowd counts in July and August rarely exceed 4,000 people.
The attraction on Sunday was likely both the fine weather — with a high of 24.5 C, it was the warmest day so far this year — and the fact that it was Mother’s Day, with people perhaps particularly eager this year to get outside with their families after the close-quarter living conditions required during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Kelowna has a network of 32 pedestrian and cyclist counters.
Activity at Waterfront Park was also much higher than usual, with 2,553 walkers and cyclists counted on Mother's Day. That’s about equal to the numbers who frequent the area on a summer’s day, and far above the longterm daily average of less than 900 people.
Before Mother’s Day, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry urged people to celebrate their day outside, but to keep a distance of two meters from one another if they weren’t part of the same household.
After the upcoming Victoria Day long weekend, the government says gatherings of two to six people will be permissible. But Henry says British Columbians are still a long way from enjoying the kind of socializing that was common before the onset of the pandemic.
“Eventually, we will be able to add more people, but distance between people is still important to keep in place,” Henry said last Friday.
“We have to find that sweet spot where we have more connections, but not too many where we allow this virus to take off again.
“This summer is going to be the most unusual summer we have had in my lifetime and, for many of us here, one that we have never seen before,” Henry added.