Tag: CORONAVIRUS

A growing number of British Columbians are calling on the provincial government to waive hospital parking fees for health-care workers on the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Christine Sorensen, president of the British Columbia Nurses Union, says she’s heard of several members getting parking tickets while on duty.

“They’re getting ticketed when their meters run out because they’re working very long hours in the acute care facilities and other care facilities,” she said.

She adds health-care workers are spending more time disinfecting and decontaminating themselves to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to their families and the general public, further adding extra time to their shifts.

“The last thing that nurses or any other health-care provider needs right now is to worry about whether or not they’re going to get a parking ticket,” she said.

“Some members have told me they’re having to leave COVID-19 planning meetings to go and plug the meter or leave the bedside. That is just unacceptable.”

While Sorensen says those tickets have largely been cancelled after nurses dispute the charges and explain the situation, she says waiving the fees outright would save time and stress.

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She said the provincial government should be doing everything it can to support health-care workers while mobilizing the system’s resources to fight the pandemic and treat patients — and that includes making parking free and ensuring there are spaces to park in hospital lots.

Hospital parking fees have been an ongoing struggle in B.C. for years, with earlier petitions and campaigns calling for the removal of fees for not only health-care workers but also for patients and their families.

Dix called the issue “complicated” when explaining why he wasn’t yet removing the fees late last year, despite NDP members voting in favour of the measure at their latest convention.

“It’s a challenging and complicated issue but it’s one the premier has directed me to look at,” he said at the time.

Global News has reached out to the health ministry for comment on free parking for health-care workers.

Private companies operate the parking lots in most provincial hospitals and the province uses its profits either for health services or for community hospital foundations.

Those companies, including Impark, did not return requests for comment Sunday.

Dix said last year that the province brought in $40 million in gross revenues from hospital parking in 2017, a dramatic increase from 2002.

—With files from Richard Zussman

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B.C. grocery stores must have hand sanitizer stations, provide clean carry-out bags and enforce physical distancing measures as they continue to operate through the novel coronavirus pandemic, the province said Sunday.

Those rules and others were issued as the government attempted to clarify how food and grocery retailers can operate under provincial guidelines banning gatherings of more than 50 people, which is meant to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

A statement from B.C.’s COVID-19 joint information centre said that order does not directly apply to grocery stores, although “the spirit of the order should be followed.”

“This means that, for example, in large grocery stores where it is feasible to have more than 50 people present at one time, it is permissible to do so provided that appropriate physical distancing can be maintained,” the statement reads.

Customers should be discouraged from using their own bags or carry-out containers, and stores must use signage to keep customers from placing their own packaging on check-out counters.

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Hand sanitizer containing at least 60 per cent ethyl alcohol must be available in dispensers placed near doors, pay stations and “other high-touch locations” for customer and staff use within all stores, the province says.

Washrooms must be fully stocked with liquid soap, paper towels and warm water, while cleaning schedules and sanitization plans for all stores must be updated and increased.

Stores are also being forbidden from selling bulk items, except through gravity feed bins or where staff can dispense the items.

Staff must be educated in proper hand washing and to avoid touching their face, and anyone who displays symptoms related to COVID-19 must stay home and self-isolate for 14 days.

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