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More measures at B.C. Ferries

Even more measures are being implemented by B.C. Ferries amid the COVID-19 pandemic B.C.
bc ferries tsawwassen
B.C. Ferries has made a number of schedule changes including the Tsawwassen to Duke Point and Swartz Bay runs.

Even more measures are being implemented by B.C. Ferries amid the COVID-19 pandemic

B.C. Ferries will start screening passengers for symptoms or recent international travel before allowing people to board vessels if the voyage is longer than 30 minutes.

Posters will be put up at the terminals which will have screening questions customers can read in advice.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced that starting this week commercial marine vessels with the capacity of 12 or more passengers will stop all non-essential activities including tourism.

“The safety and security of the travelling public and Canada’s transportation network are my top priorities. These new measures will help reduce the spread of COVID-19, while continuing to support the continued movement of goods through the supply chain, and ensuring Canadians can access their homes, jobs, and essential services in a safe manner,” Garneau said in a news release Sunday.

The restrictions will remain in place until at least June 30th.

Vessels are also to immediately reduce the maximum number of passengers by 50 per cent or operators can also implement other practices to reduce the spread of the virus including having people stay in their vehicles.

B.C. Ferries has already asked people to avoid non-essential travel and has also stepped up cleaning and disinfecting.

According to B.C. Ferries, traffic across all routes is down approximately 80 per cent due to COVID-19.

Across the ferry network, capacity will be reduced by approximately half over this time last year.

The service reductions went into effect on Saturday for a period of 60 days on major routes and until further notice on other routes.

During this time, the ferry corporation says it will monitor service levels in conjunction with the province to ensure essential service levels are maintained and to determine when services should resume to normal levels.

On Friday, B.C. Ferries also announced it was temporarily laying off hundreds of employees as a result of the service changes.

For more information on the changes at B.C. Ferries check https://www.bcferries.com/about/projects/covid-19.html?utm_campaign=COVID-19&utm_medium=web&utm_source=bcfhome