People planning to attend Vancouver beach party ‘need to give their head a shake’: Dix

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A party advertised to take place Friday night on Vancouver’s Third Beach is now on the Vancouver Police’s radar and has even caught B.C.’s health minister’s attention.

People in Vancouver are being encouraged to attend a party at Third Beach, but Adrian Dix says you need to give your head a shake if you think it’s okay to gather in large groups during a pandemic.

“If there are events where everybody’s invited, of course, somebody at the event needs to take the responsibility of identifying and writing down everyone who’s at the event. I think this weekend, we can do this,” he says.

“We all have the responsibility to look at that situation and to look around to the people we know and love and to make the right decision.”

Re: in-authorized beach party advertised for #Vancouver, both Henry and @adriandix say don’t do it with Dix echoing @jjhorgan comments to “give your head a shake” if you’re even thinking about partying in large groups this weekend. #bcpoli @NEWS1130

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) July 30, 2020

During this B.C. Day long weekend, Dix is warning people across the province to be responsible as a recent surge in cases have been linked to celebrations on Canada Day. He says it’s not the occasion to attend large parties.

“This is not the weekend for that and next weekend isn’t either and the one after that isn’t either, but I think people have to look at those situations, particularly indoor parties which may happen on the B.C. Day long weekend or any Friday and Saturday night — or other nights — look at those kind of events and not go.”

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To make sure people follow pandemic-related public safety orders, the Vancouver Police Department says it will still choose to educate rather than issue fines.

Sgt. Aaron Roed says they are aware of the party advertised, but it’s not clear if it’s authorized.

“For anything like this, any special event, you have to go to the City of Vancouver, get a permit and go through those proper steps.”

Roed says the VPD’s Beach Unit and Mounted Squad are already spending more time along the waterfront, so if the Third Beach party goes ahead, police will be watching.

During the COVID-19 update, Dr. Bonnie Henry thanked people in the B.C. for their help flattening the curve again following the increase in cases since July 1.

In the most recent update, 29 new cases of the coronavirus have been reported but there are no additional deaths.