After handing out “well over 1,000 warnings” about physical distancing in recent days, the 麻豆传媒映画Park Board is doing even more to raise awareness about the importance of staying apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.
麻豆传媒映画Park Board general manager Malcolm Bromley stopped by English Bay Saturday morning to announce a new program the board is launching in an effort to spread the word about physical distancing at Vancouver’s parks and beaches.
The “Park Board Champions” program is, essentially, a public awareness campaign that will see around 25 of the board’s recreation programming staff - now better known as champions - don bright green vests and head to some of the city’s busiest parks and beaches, beginning today.
“The champions will not be focused on enforcement,” said Bromley, but will instead be deployed to Vancouver's most popular locations, “to provide an additional layer of public education” and help support the public in using these spaces safely.
“I'm asking everyone to please be respectful of their work and to show your support,” he added.
Today we launched the Park Board Champions program. Our team will be at parks & beaches raising awareness on the importance of physical distancing + using our spaces safely. Please help us keep our parks & beaches open and safe:
— 麻豆传媒映画Park Board (@ParkBoard)
“Vancouver's beaches and parks remain open, and we recognize the important role that our outdoor spaces play in our overall health and wellness, particularly mental health at this very stressful time,” said Bromley. “But, our spaces must be used responsibly. The most important things that the community can do right now is to adhere to provincial health officers’ directives to stay two metres apart.”
As Bromley explained, the majority of people who’ve recently earned warnings from park rangers weren’t ignoring physical distancing protocols on purpose, but had simply fallen into old habits.
Upon receiving the warnings, “by and large those people will say, ‘Oh yeah I forgot. Thank you very much,’ and they comply with that,” he said.
“That's what made us they need more boots on the ground that can help on the educational side, because the rangers have a lot of other work to do.”
Park Board launches Champions program to support physical distancing in parks, on beaches:
— 麻豆传媒映画Park Board (@ParkBoard)
The new program comes following other measures the park board has already taken to support physical distancing, including posting over 5000 signs across the city displaying messages about the importance of staying apart. The board has also closed 166 playgrounds, as well as recreation spaces, tennis and basketball courts, and parking lots across Vancouver, and removed “the iconic logs” from several of the city’s beaches, all in an effort to discourage congregating.
“If we continue to see people gathering in groups, we may be forced to take other measures, perhaps even looking at closing further public spaces,” Bromley explained on Saturday. “We’re doing everything we can to avoid that, because we think it’s very important that people have balance in their lives during this very stressful time.”
He added that the park board has, “seen improvement in public compliance with physical distancing, and we need to see that continue. If you follow any of the public health messaging, this is the most effective strategy for lowering that curve.”
