On the eve of the Family Day Weekend, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have set up a traffic checkpoint in Surrey, and vehicles passing through the checkpoint must stop for police inspection. The police moved only in response to another group of "freedom convoys" protesting from inland in BC to avoid a repeat of last week's traffic disruptions. By this time, the Freedom Motorcade protests had been in Canada for three weeks.
Image: CTV News
At the Surrey checkpoint in Greater Vancouver, located on 176th Street north of the U.S.-Canada border, all vehicles traveling south of 8th Avenue must stop at the checkpoint and undergo police inspection to determine that they have a legitimate cause before they can be released.
Over the weekend, "free riders" rushed onto the highway and poured into important intersections on the Pacific Highway. Protesters have expressed a barrage of grievances against the federal government by blocking roads and vital road sections to protest epidemic-related health demands such as mandatory vaccines. The fierce protests immediately caused serious traffic disruptions.
Imaged from: Arvydas Bns /Facebook
This time, another "free convoy" is about to come to Dawen, and the police have taken urgent measures to avoid a repeat of last week's public transport incident.
Image from: ealism_fan/Twitter
Apart from setting up checkpoints, the RCMP has not released any additional details of the action plan for the time being.
But police spokeswoman Vanessa Munn has spoken that "enforcement at the scene will depend on the circumstances," i.e. based on the number of protesters who appear and the nature of the situation. Moreover, the police will continue to monitor the protests and take enforcement action "as needed."
Pictured: Bloomberg
On February 17 (yesterday), protesters rallied that trucks (drivers) involved in the protests were ready and gathered across B.C. to head to the Lower Mainland region and the government to "stop to the end." On Monday, Feb. 14, police in the province arrested more than a dozen people while cleaning up protests on 176th Street.
On Friday, February 18, Ottawa police arrested at least 70 people during the local Freedom Motorcade protests.
Although the establishment of checkpoints by the police is somewhat inconvenient for the public to travel, Surrey business leaders are very supportive of the police's move. Anita Huberman, chief executive of the Surrey Trade Council, said that traffic disruptions had a direct negative impact on the local economy, and she encouraged the police to take active action to ensure that the crossing point can be opened to traffic.
On the morning of Friday, Feb. 18, some protesters had gathered in the gas station parking lot near the police checkpoint, waving flags and encouraging passing drivers to honk their horns in support.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19, a Vancouver protest convoy will depart from the intersection of East Hasting Sandwich Renfrew (near the PNE playground) to Boundary Line 176 Street.
Image from: Reddit
Another "Liberty Convoy" will depart from the Langley Cinema Colossus Cineplex at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19.
Photo credit: Facebook
Large vaccination sites in downtown Vancouver are closed
On this side of the box there are protests against compulsory vaccines, and on the other side of the box is the health authorities encouraging the provincial people to get a third shot. But because not many people are getting injections now, the large COVID-19 vaccination site at the Vancouver Convention Centre will close next week.
A large COVID-19 vaccination site at the Vancouver Convention Centre in downtown Vancouver. (Photo: CTV News)
Those in need of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine should note that vaccination sites at the Vancouver Convention Centre will be temporarily closed after Sunday, February 20.
Currently, 93% of residents aged 12 and over in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and only 53.6% of eligible individuals have received a third dose.
Now, as BC further eases restrictions, more and more employees return to work, and the number of officially published confirmed cases drops, health authorities have updated their epidemic prevention regulations.
BC Chief Health Officer Bonnie Henry announced that BC has updated its workplace lockdown restrictions – eliminating the requirement for employees to work from home whenever possible.
Image: Economic Times
At present, all workplaces still have to establish anti-epidemic rules. In some settings, staff are still required to wear masks.
On Thursday, Feb. 17, the official number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to decline to 744, down slightly from 762 the day before. There were 120 people in intensive care on Thursday, adding five new deaths, pushing the total number of deaths to 2,781.
On the same day, three new outbreaks broke out in healthcare facilities, two of which were in hospitals and one in long-term care homes. There are currently outbreaks in 32 healthcare facilities.