Navigation Centre will provide treatment for mental health and addictions

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Smokey skies continue

Smoke from US wildfires will continue to affect skies over Nanaimo today. The city's air quality rating remains at a 10+ which means a very high risk for those with respiratory ailments and underlying health conditions. People are being advised to avoid exercise stay indoors, windows closed and run furnace fans with clean filters to improve indoor air quality. Environment Canada is predicting the possibility of relief from the smoke starting tonight or tomorrow.

Lockdown at First Nation on Sunshine Coast

The Tla'amin First Nation near Powell River continues its local lockdown, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the community reaches 28. Hegus Clint Williams of the Tla'amin tribe says the community is pulling together but tensions remain.

"It tugs at your heartstrings when you see the stress and the anxiety and fear that people have, kind of trying to figure out what is happening so I feel for all of them and we're trying to do the best we can by protecting everybody."—Hegus (Chief) Clint Williams.

The Tla'amin Executive Council has extended its Shelter in Place order until tomorrow at 5 p.m. while it awaits results from more COVID-19 tests.

Twelve active cases of COVID-19 in Island Health

Meanwhile, there are no new cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health Region, but there have been 97 new cases confirmed elsewhere in the province over the past 24 hours. There are twelve active cases of the virus in Island Health and just under 1600 active cases province-wide.

Mayor comments on Navigation Centre

Nanaimo has been selected as the second community in BC to get what's called a Navigation Centre. It's a 60-bed shelter for the hardest to house street people, but unlike other shelters, this one will include hand-picked clients who will receive treatment for mental health and addictions. Mayor Leonard Krog says the province will provide the space, a local service provider will manage it and the city will work on buy-in from the wider community.

"From my perspective as mayor of this city, it's a substantial problem for the community; the level of resources it's absorbing. And as a human being, it's the 21st century and you have people, as I've said before, living in hell on the streets and making a bit of hell for people around them and it needs to get fixed."—Mayor Leonard Krog

Krog says a location has not been found yet but he expects the Navigation Centre to be up and running by next spring.