Noon News Update for May 15 2020

Canadian Kindergarten Class / via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

NANAIMO—Students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 will be able to return to their classrooms starting June the 1st, but that return will be voluntary and part-time. The Minister of Education says the part-time plan is necessary, to ensure safe physical distancing in classrooms. Students in Kindergarten to grade five will receive two or three days of classroom instruction per week, and students from grades six to 12 will be in class one day per week. Rob Flemming says the rest of their learning will continue on line. Families that decide not to send their children to class may continue learning from home. And, children of essential service workers and students needing additional supports will have the option to attend school full time. Currently, close to 5000 children of essential service workers are already attending classes full time. However, the Minister had no information to offer families of non-essential workers who may have to return to full-time work themselves. The Minister of State for Childcare says childcare centres will not be forced to open to fill that gap.

Starting Tuesday, all gyms, fitness centres, yoga studios and other personal training facilities will be allowed to re-open. Island Health will lift the region's health order that closed the facilities at the beginning of April. They will only be allowed to reopen if they develop a plan that can meet provincial requirements of the Provincial Health Office and WorkSafe BC to protect staff and clients against the spread of the virus.

If you must travel on BC Ferries Southern Gulf Islands to Vancouver route this long weekend you will have to make a reservation, whether in a vehicle or as a foot passenger. The ferry corporation says many communities, including those on the Southern Gulf Islands, have asked travellers to stay away because of limited local supplies, healthcare equipment and resources. In order to maintain safe physical distancing, BC Ferries has cut in half, the number of passengers per sailing. And, it’s allowing travellers to remain in their vehicles during the voyage. BC Ferries says the sailings on the Southern Gulf Island to Vancouver routes are 100 per cent reservable. Only customers with bookings and correctly identified passenger numbers in vehicles will be assured they will get on the sailing. Anyone showing symptoms of illness will be prevented boarding. There will be no food or retail services on the ferries, including no vending machines.

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Lisa Cordasco

Senior Reporter and News Director — Lisa is responsible for creating the station's first morning news current affairs show on CHLY. She is also deeply involved in training and mentoring student and citizen journalists who volunteer their time at the station. Before joining CHLY, Lisa spent 35 years in various roles at CBC Radio, from host to reporter. Her passion for journalism and radio has led her to Nanaimo, where she intends to provide CHLY listeners with news they can use, in an alternative radio environment. Her other not-so-secret passion is costuming for any occasion.

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