46% of Workplaces Inspected in Whistler, BC, Found to Not Be Following Covid-19 Guidelines

Liam Abbott | | Post Tag for Industry NewsIndustry News
Whistler’s village is well known for its vast amounts of shops, restaurants, and local businesses. With Covid-19 protocols not properly being followed, many of these businesses have been receiving citations. Image courtesy of Tourism Whistler.

In a conversation with City News News 1130, Al Johnson, head of prevention services for WorkSafeBC, said that in a Covid-19 enforcement blitz on Whistler’s business from January 30-31st, 32/69 businesses inspected were not following Covid-19 guidelines. This news comes after seeing continual high numbers of new coronavirus cases coming out of Whistler, BC. As of the week of February 15th, this year alone, Whistler has already seen 676 Covid-19 cases, making up over 2.5% of the province’s total cases, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s data.

Johnson cites the inspections of helping to enforce WorkSafeBC’s presence in the area while also explaining the relatively large amounts of cases coming out of Whistler. Johnson said,

“In some cases, they [businesses] weren’t sure of what they exactly needed to be doing, and so we reminded them of that. In other cases, things have fallen down a little bit, and they needed to make those improvements, so we do have officers up there on a regular basis, but that was the outcome of that particular blitz.”

In a Facebook post from early February, Whistler Blackcomb continued to remind its guests of the importance of wearing face masks and following BCCDC guidelines. Image courtesy of Whistler Blackcomb’s Facebook.

A big question many are wondering is how many of the cases being reported from Whistler are from non-locals. Currently, Vancouver Coastal Health has not specified this statistic, but when provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix was asked, they said that all cases reported from Whistler were local.

As of now, hopefully, WorkSafeBC’s new presence will keep businesses following all Covid-19 protocols to continue to limit the spread of Covid-19 in Whistler. If they can do that, the ski season should have no fear of being jeopardized, and people will be able to enjoy skiing well into the spring as Whistler continues to see an amazing season!

As of writing this article, Whistler has already received 342″ (871cm) of snow this season! With these conditions, putting the ski season on hold is the last thing on people’s minds. Image courtesy of Whistler Blackcomb’s Facebook.
Posted by Liam Abbott |

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