City of Chilliwack is working on many levels to help flatten the curve, and reiterating health recommendations about physical distancing to be safe.
Mayor Ken Popove wants folks to know they’ve stepped up the messaging.
“Thankfully, our residents seem to be listening,” Mayor Popove said in his statement of April 2.
Trail use has gone down from last week’s high numbers in Chilliwack, and is a bit closer to the seasonal average, according to city staff estimates.
“If you do plan on going outside, please make sure you follow all the health rules and consider visiting some of our lesser known trails, instead,” Popove noted.
“Most of our parks and trails experienced unprecedented use on the weekend of March 21 and 22.”
Mindful of those blips of concentrated trail use, city officials “stepped up” the messaging this week to encourage people to stay home. They also made some changes to help encourage physical distancing, such as closing playgrounds and making the Jinkerson Steps one-way up only.
Another change was to temporarily put a stop accepting applications for the city’s celebration and activity grant program.
“While we greatly appreciate the desire to foster social connections during these difficult times, we hope residents will consider alternative event styles, such as online gatherings or live streams, to continue to build community spirit safely. When rules around gathering sizes and physical distancing change, we will begin accepting grant applications once again,” said the mayor.
Many voices have said the next two weeks are critical.
“Even though it’s difficult, we need to keep doing the right things, such as staying home as much as possible, washing our hands frequently and observing physical distancing. I know we can do this, Chilliwack!”
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