People are growing pandemic weary, and Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick says he understands that, but it is essential that we don’t undo all the good work done so far in keeping COVID-19 mostly at bay.

People are also impatient for all city facilities that were closed due to COVID-19, to reopen.

There are currently two online petitions urging the opening of the Aquatic Centre, and another for the opening of Marysville Arena.

READ: Residents launch online petition urging city to open Aquatic Centre

The City opened the Civic Centre Ice and walking track last week but at the time CAO Scott Sommerville said that Marysville ice traditionally went in later than that of the Civic Centre and therefore no decision had been made on its operation right now. The city was also working on a plan to get the Aquatic Centre reopened, he said.

read: Kimberley Civic Centre re-opens for ice time Sept.18, walking track Sept. 21

Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick took to Facebook to ask for patience from residents, and continued vigilence.

“I am exhausted, as I know most people are right now. This has been a long seven months. COVID fatigue has set in. There are more and more people who are questioning the seriousness of this virus, out of frustration rather than knowledge.

“Everyone wants to shed the stress and sacrifice.

“Well, despite what we want to happen, the harsh reality is that this virus will be with us for the better part of another year at least. We are a about a third of the way there. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

“We are starting to see ‘selfish behavior’ – demanding what ‘I’ want despite what is in the interest of the common good. Some of this is lack of understanding, lack of facts. We are doing our best to share what we know when we learn it. But make no mistake, much of it is because we are tired and just want to get our choices back.

“Confirmed cases have remained low. But it is not because the virus is gone or is avoiding us…we are avoiding it! Our community and region have been incredible at following the protocols. This is the reason for exceptionally low case rates. We need to keep this up if we wish to remain safe. We have not had a death and we cannot have loosened behaviours be the cause of any deaths in this community. “We have 2000 people in Kimberley over the age of 65, and many, many more who have compromised health. We have risk.

“The City of Kimberley follows the directives of the public health officer, Dr. Henry, and more pandemically experienced minds than ours. The more we deviate from that, the more risk we introduce into the community. So we will continue with this strategy. City staff decision making is based on thorough investigation of the facts and is always in the best interest of the entire community. We do our best to communicate why we do what we do, but no one channel finds everyone. Please check our website and all of the social media channels for the latest information. If you do not see what you are looking for there, call us.

“Physically distance, be fanatical about hygiene and wear a mask when physical distance is not possible. Be safe.”

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Kimberley Bulletin