Tourism could open up July 1

The green light for tourism within British Columbia is drawing closer, but there’s still no exact date when people will be told it’s OK to hit the open road.

If the number of new COVID-19 cases remains low, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday she expected to encourage intra-provincial travel within a few weeks.

“Some towns and regions that rely on tourism are eager to get us all back there, to welcome B.C. residents and Canadians with safety measures in place,” Henry acknowledged during the province’s daily COVID-19 update.

Almost two million people visit Kelowna each year and the industry is worth more than $1.25 billion annually, Tourism Kelowna says.

In 2017, tourism accounted for 11,890 jobs in the Central Okanagan region, making it the third largest employment sector, after health care and construction.

There were 29 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in B.C. since last Friday; no further deaths were reported; and there were no new outbreaks of the disease at any care facilities.

There are no active COVID-19 cases anywhere in the region served by Interior Health, which includes the Okanagan, the Kootenays, and the Thompson region.

A total of 195 people in the IH region have tested positive for the disease since the pandemic began — 193 people have fully recovered and two have died.

Should the new COVID-19 case numbers remain low or decline further, Henry suggested the all-clear for tourism within B.C. could come between seven and 14 days from now.

“But much depends on what we see day to day,” she said, “so I cannot give you an exact date.

“We want to make sure that communities that rely on tourism are able to have people come and visit and do it in a way that doesn’t overwhelm their capacity,” she said. “We’re working on those things now, we’re talking about how best to do it.”