Wednesday, April 22, 2020 – 5:00pm

COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPDATE #26 – CITY OF NELSON

City of Nelson Reaches Out to Business Community

Mayor and Council would like thank all local businesses (including non-profit organizations) for the sacrifices they are making to help us all get through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nelson and Area Economic Development Partnership (NAEDP), which includes our partners, the Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Central Kootenay are partnering with the City on this business outreach project. Along with a volunteer coordinator, we are combining our resources, to create a business outreach team to touch base with every single one of our local businesses and non-profits.

The goal of this outreach project is to:

1. To make sure businesses are aware of the assistance that is available to them;
2. To help businesses navigate federal, provincial and other programs to obtain the best possible assistance for their particular circumstances;
3. To understand what other support businesses require to get through this pandemic; and
4. To work with the business community to ensure our local economy will recover from the effects of the pandemic.

All businesses should look for an email coming from the Business Outreach team. If your business has not received this email by 4:00pm Thursday, April 23^rd, please send an email to businessoutreach@nelson.ca with your current contact information.

City Council COVID-19 Update

At the April 20^th Council meeting, Mayor and Council provided the following letters of support:

• West Kootenay Regional Airport letter to the Hon. Marc Garneau, Federal Minister of Transport requesting funding to offset revenue losses and financial assistance to improve airport reliability rate.
• Letter to Premier John Horgan requesting the province to provide financial assistance to the four municipal electrical utilities (including Nelson Hydro) and FortisBC to provide similar subsidies as BC Hydro has been able to provide to their electrical customers.

Council is meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 1:00pm to review and finalize the 2020 – 2024 Financial Plan to reflect the loss of revenues and implement financial cost reduction strategies as a result of COVID-19. Live Stream Link:  https://nelson.civicweb.net/Portal/Video.aspx. 

Dr. Henry Raises Concerns over Recent Community Outbreaks

In today’s provincial briefing, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the number of new cases in BC has increased by 71 in the past 24 hours, many of which are from new community outbreaks, including a recent outbreak at a chicken processing plant in Vancouver.  She said that we, as a province, have more work to do to “break these chains of transmission” and until “we clear this hurdle, we can’t make any changes.”  

Dr. Henry knows that many people are tired of staying home and not visiting with friends and family, but she said “to ease restrictions, we need to have a decline in new cases and community outbreaks.”  With these new community outbreaks, Dr. Henry also emphasized the importance of employers providing a work environment that has the necessary measures in place for staff to be safe, including adequate physical distancing as well as a plan for every business that is open. She reiterated the absolute importance of anyone with even mild symptoms, to stay home and not be in contact with others.

Important Resource List – Valuable BC Government Website for Support & Information

The following web link provides a comprehensive list of supports and information for BC residents, including both Federal and Provincial resources.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support 

Ottawa Announces $9 Billion in Support for Post-Secondary Students and Recent Graduates

Prime Minister Trudeau announced comprehensive support of nearly $9 billion for post-secondary students and recent graduates. This plan will help provide financial aid for students this summer and will help them continue studies in the fall. Measures include:

Canada Emergency Student Benefit: Provides support to students and new graduates who are not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. This benefit will provide $1,250 per month for eligible students or $1,750 per month for eligible students with dependents or disabilities. This benefit will be available from May to August 2020.

Canada Student Service Grant: Will help students gain valuable work experience and skills while they help their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. For students who choose to do national service and serve their communities, the new Canada Student Service Grant will provide up to $5,000 for their education in the fall.

• Raising the maximum weekly amount that can be provided through the Canada student loans program in 2020-2021 to $350 from $210.
• More than $75 million in additional supports for Indigenous post-secondary students.
• Another $291 million for federal granting councils to extend expiring federal graduate research scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships and supplement existing federal research grants.

To read the full media release: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/04/22/support-students-and-new-grads-affected-covid-19

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Applications Open April 27th

To help employers keep and re-hire workers amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is implementing the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). This important economic measure provides a 75% wage subsidy of up to $847 per employee per week, to eligible employers, for up to 12 weeks, preventing further job losses and encouraging employers to re-hire workers previously laid off as a result of COVID-19. The CEWS is retroactive to March 15, 2020.

Beginning April 27, applications will be open for the CEWS. Click the “Are you Eligible” link below to learn how to get ready, and how to assess if your business is eligible. You can also calculate your wage subsidy using the calculator tool.

Are you eligible? https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-how-apply.html 

CEWS Calculator Tool: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-calculate-subsidy-amount.html

To read the full media release: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/2020/04/government-of-canada-launches-canada-emergency-wage-subsidy-calculator-for-employers.html

The BC Government has provided the following information today:

COVID-19 Cases:

• Total cases in BC to date: 1795
• 745 in Vancouver Coastal Health
• 747 n Fraser Health
• 110 in Island Health
• 153 in Interior Health (No new cases in 24hrs)
• 40 in Northern Health
• Total recovered cases in BC: 1079
• Total new cases in BC: 71
• Total fatalities in BC to date: 90  (Increase of 3 in 24 hrs)
• Total cases in Canada: 39,813
• Total fatalities in Canada: 1971

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Important Resources & Information – COVID-19

VictimlinkBC – 1-800-563-0808 - 24/7

information, referrals. Immediate crisis support

HealthLinkBC - 811 or www.healthlinkbc.ca 

For seniors looking for additional support at this time, call 211 or visit:

www.bc211.ca

Interior Crisis Line Network – 1-888-353-2273 - 24/7

Nelson Transition House – (250) 354-4357
24/7 - Specifically for women leaving or struggling in, an abusive relationship.

To help provide important information to our community, the City of Nelson has developed a dedicated webpage nelson.ca/covid19 that will be updated frequently as new information becomes available.  Please sign-up for ‘City News’ on NotifyMe to receive automatic updates from the City via text or email. 

The City of Nelson relies on Interior Health, BC Public Health, and the Federal Government for information related to the virus itself. If you believe you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your physician, or call the COVID-19 telephone line at 1-888-COVID19, to be assessed or call the testing clinic hotline at (250) 551-7500 to be triaged for testing.   Symptoms of COVID-19 include coughing, fever, sore throat, and difficulty breathing. These symptoms may not present themselves for up to 14 days, but you may be a carrier of the virus; therefore it is important to follow the guidelines set out by the health experts.  

To check your symptoms or get updates from the BC Government you can download the BC COVID-19 App or visit this website

We thank you for doing your part to help maintain a safe and healthy community and for understanding the importance of this evolving situation.

Information from the BC Center for Disease Control on COVID-19

Media Contact:

Nelson Police Department Victim Services – (250) 505-5657