BC Locals Are Allowed To Hangout In Groups Of 6 Next Weekend But There Are Rules

With all the new restrictions being lifted by the province now, we have just one question in mind: can I see my friends in B.C. yet? I miss them. According to the Premier and the provincial health officer, the second phase of B.C's reopening means we can get together in groups of up to six after the coming long weekend so it's almost time to stock up on those White Claws.

On Wednesday, May 6, Premier John Horgan announced big plans to reopen the province. The four-phase plan aims to slowly reopen more and more services over time.

In phase two, Horgan said, people will be allowed to start gathering with people from outside their households in little groups or bubbles of two to six people. This only applies to people without any symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Phase two will be starting after the coming long weekend which runs from Friday, May 15 to Monday, May 18.

"All of us need to think about who we are bringing into our bubble, or orbit, as we move into the second phase," said Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry during her daily update on Thursday, May 7.

"What we want to do is make sure that we increase our social connections with the people who are close to us," Henry added.

However, Henry continued that there's no rule that covers everyone — everyone's circumstances are different, and they'll need to decide for themselves if a risk is acceptable or not.

She gave the example that single people could get together with other single people and form a bubble together. However, if someone is living with people who are older or immunocompromised, then they should be "more mindful."

Henry warned that by opening up our circles, we're also exposing ourselves to other people's connections.

"We still need to be cautious. This is not going back to where we were in December," she said.

Earlier, Henry predicted that we could start seeing up to 60% of our friends again and still be able to manage the cases in the province. This means it's likely there'll be increases to positive cases, but it wouldn't grow into overwhelming numbers.

However, if we see over 80% of our friends again, it could lead to a spike in cases bigger than before.

"We still want to keep close, but we need to expand," said Henry. "We all need that social interaction. But do it in a thoughtful way."