Peachland residents have been calling the mayor’s office to express their concerns and frustration over out of province visitors coming to the area, as health officials ask again and again for people to stay home.
Peachland mayor Cindy Fortin said she understands the frustration people feel, but that it’s also important to know not everyone who has an out of province plate are visitors despite the current pandemic.
“There are a number of residents who moved here from Alberta and maintained their Alberta insurance. That’s between them and ICBC,” she wrote in a social media post.
She added that while the local government and businesses appreciate the visitors, this is simply not the time to choose Peachland as a destination location.
“(This is the time) to stay home and to shelter in place, except for essential reasons such as the need for groceries and medical reasons. And please respect the fact that even social distancing isn’t enough, that you could be carrying the virus and be asymptomatic and not realize that by doing even the simplest of things… you could potentially pass it along,”
“Your actions could mean the serious illness and death of someone else’s loved one.”
Fortin added as frustrating as the situation is, there is little the district can do unless the province initiates an enforceable order that Peachland can act on.
“We will never convince everyone of the seriousness of the situation. The most the rest of us can do is to continue to do our part, protect each other and our families, and try not to obsess over the actions of others,” she wrote.
Black Press Media has reached out to other small communities in the Okanagan. We will have more details as information becomes available.
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