By Gerry Thiessen, Mayor of Vanderhoof
March 27, 2020
It’s been two weeks since life was turned upside down. On behalf of Council it has been so incredibly great to see how the residents of Vanderhoof have banded together as we have gone through this ‘unprecedented’ period in history. This week, I have had many calls with Northern Health, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, doctors and they all are following the central lead of our Provincial Health Officer.
We have seen our healthcare workers show their deep passion for the residents of Vanderhoof and their unwavering commitment. Our grocery store clerks have put on their best attitudes to deal with an unending stress to make sure store shelves are full, yet still be helpful as you shop in their store.
School is out, families are spending a lot of time in tight quarters, and this week our largest employer announced a shut down for three weeks. This is a time to be purposeful in making sure you do things that are interesting and keep you occupied, and not just watching the news. It is so important that we stay as healthy as possible through the next few months. We must do this by remaining isolated, but in our weeks of isolation, it is important that you keep your mind, body and ability to care, as healthy as possible. I am very concerned about conflicts in family units. For families to remain healthy, we must establish a home plan for activities that the family can do, make sure you have a variety of exercise, games, reading and very little TV, as you go through this time.
I have been impressed by how each level of decision making has stayed unified on following the Orders of Dr. Bonnie Henry, as well as those of Ministers Farnworth, Dix and Robinson. Northern Health has done very well at developing plans, they assure us that no one community will be left on their own, they are following the Provincial lead. Emergency Management BC has daily phone calls with town staff looking for ways to ensure risk reduction. There is a group of local health care providers and leaders of our community, planning for any of the foreseeable challenges that we could go through during the next months.
I encourage you to buy local, when you do that, keep your physical distance, wash your hands both before and after an outing, and let’s do all we can so our community is as strong as possible three months from now. It is good to see that hoarding has been self monitored and that stores, shoppers and the public have taken care of that. Many of our local businesses have done some very thoughtful things at meeting the local community and healthcare needs.
Please go to the District of Vanderhoof web site at www.vanderhoof.ca to find access to local up to date information which will lead you to other sites of reliable information. Remember, call a senior every day, be kind to one another, we are going to get through this.
Vanderhoof is a great town, let’s do the things that will keep us strong.
