by Baldev S. Gill, Chief Executive Officer
Today’s eMemo contains the following updates:
- New temporary measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants
- The real estate profession must remain vigilant
The Province has announced new temporary measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants
On Monday, March 29, the provincial government announced several new measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. They came into effect at 12 am on Tuesday, March 30 and remain in effect until April 19. The new measures include:
- Restaurants, bars and pubs: no dining-in, except for outdoor patios with members of your immediate household or core bubble* only (take out and delivery continue to be allowed);
- Adult fitness: no indoor group fitness activities of any kind (gyms and fitness centres are restricted to individual or one-on-one activities such as personal training);
- Religious services: no indoor religious activities (outdoor activities are allowed);
- Travel: travel continues to be limited for essential, work or medical reasons and anyone who has travelled outside their health region and who has developed any signs of illness must stay home from work, school or daycare, and arrange to get tested for COVID-19 immediately;
- Whistler-Blackcomb: the ski resort is closed to reduce community spread of COVID-19 due to non-essential travel;
- Students in Grade 4 to 12: students in those grades are now required to wear masks while at school (see updated Guidance document here).
* For people who live alone, a core bubble is defined as including a maximum of two people you see regularly.
The real estate profession must remain vigilant
Although the Province’s announcement yesterday did not include new or updated restrictions with respect to the real estate profession, members need to remain vigilant in following established WorkSafeBC protocols for real estate and the current Provincial Health Orders (PHO’s) related to showings and open houses in all cases to protect members of the profession and clients.
For private showings, please ensure you adhere strictly to all COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Showings are restricted to a maximum of six people, subject to each person present being able to keep two metres away from every other person present at all times;
- Masks and gloves must be worn by the visitors including the buyers, sellers and agents attending;
- No visitor is permitted to touch any object or surface of the home;
- Any opening of doors, windows or cupboards must be done by the seller or the seller’s agent; and
- Sellers are advised to carry out thorough cleaning and sanitizing prior to and following a showing of the home.
A reminder that as of March 23, all Touchbase requests for showings of FVREB members’ listings require a mandatory field to be filled out (unless an office has opted out), indicating that all parties agree to the public health protocols in place regarding COVID-19 before showings can be booked.
We must all work together to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants until vaccines are rolled out to the greater population and have a chance to help us regain the routines we all dearly miss.
Please take care!
For ongoing FVREB updates on COVID-19, please visit:
http://news.fvreb.bc.ca/category/member-updates/covid-19-updates/
Additional COVID-19 resources: