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The City of Vancouver Emergency Operations Centre by way of the Jericho Lands Planning Team has asked us to disseminate the following critical message. Stay Home, Stay Put Around the world the Covid-19 pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down and hundreds are dying each day, we cannot let the same thing happen in Vancouver. Now that Covid-19 is circulating within our community, we need everyone to be committed to reducing the spread – for your family, friends, colleagues, and health care workers on the front lines. Everyone needs to Stay Home, Stay Put so we can flatten the curve. Here are five things you need to do at all times: 1. Maintain physical distancing of at least 2 metres outside your home 2. Avoid any gatherings of people on private property, at work or in parks 3. Work from home if possible. · Any business or non-profit that is not delivering an essential service for residents or operations of the city must ensure 2m distancing for customers or staff · If 2m distancing is not possible, you must close. 4. Avoid non-essential travel · Unless shopping for groceries or medical needs, or exercising alone or with members of your household 5. Stay home if you are sick or showing symptoms These steps will allow us to keep ourselves, our neighbours and colleagues, and our loved ones safe – and we will be in a much stronger position to recover and rebuild when this pandemic is over. For the latest information and resources for individuals and businesses please visit vancouver.ca/covid19.
April is the first full month of Spring. When blossoms bloom with earnest, the sun tries a little harder, Pacific breeze rakes the new season in across English Bay into Vancouver and many members of the Jericho Sailing Centre community grab their paddles or unravel their sails for that first launch of the year. Except for this April. While an epically bad Covid-19 global pandemic rages through Metro Vancouver, April 2020 will be very different. China, Italy, Iran, the US; we’ve seen how bad this can be. For our neighbours down south the month of April is predicted to be a rudderless disaster. Federal, Provincial and City health officials are asking Canadians to stay home as much as possible to slow the spread of Covid-19. Virus forecasters tell us this “beast”, as it’s known in the healthcare community, will rise like a viral tsunami over the first half of April, crest around the middle of the month and recede over the last half through May. Unfortunately, this is the best case scenario. According to the science, if we all lean into this and pull together really hard we might yet salvage a sea drenched summer on those friendly waves of English Bay. On the front line of this battle are many users of the Jericho Sailing Centre involved in Metro Vancouver’s health care community. They are just like you. They get it. Your passion for the ocean, for Vancouver’s spring and the ocean loving notion that the Jericho Sailing Centre is an essential service. This April these people would much rather be, like you, out on the waves of Burrard Inlet; or at home safe with their families but there is a war raging and we desperately need them to be where they are. They are scared. They risk their lives for all of us, putting community over self to fight this Covid-19 global pandemic disaster. They have a simple request of us. You know what it is. We have an important role to play in the war against this historic Covid-19 global pandemic. ALL Jericho Sailing Centre users are being asked not to use the facilities at all during April, 2020. We cannot keep it free from the Covid-19 virus, we cannot keep it safe for you or the people you come in contact with. Stay away. We cannot contribute to overwhelming our healthcare system. We understand how tough that will be for some. We’ve always thought of Vancouver’s Ocean Community Centre as an essential service too. It is, normally. During a pandemic, it is not. We cannot let this beast win, we all have to do our part. Show our fellow sailors, paddlers and rowers in Metro Vancouver’s healthcare system, and all the people who risk their safety working in essential services, that you support them and are doing your part by not visiting the Jericho Sailing Centre in April. Please put community over self during this community health crisis. 2020 Jericho Sailing Cente Schedule All scheduled events for April and May have been canceled and June is in jeopardy. We will re-calibrate our summer event schedule once we have a better picture. 2020 JSCA Fees The due date for 2020 JSCA fees was extended 3 weeks ago to April 30 due to COVID-19. Many JSCA members have been economically disadvantaged by this public health crisis. Anyone who needs more time can contact us via return email. Leaving C-19 in our Wake We will strive to re-open the Jericho Sailing Centre as soon as health officials say it is safe to do so. Please stay tuned for updates via this newsletter. The next scheduled “in the wind” is April 15.
Dear JSCA Members; I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy during these difficult and daunting times. We are facing truly extraordinary circumstances as a city, country, and global community. I marvel at the measures we see being taken worldwide in an attempt to contend with and curtail the international outbreak of Covid-19. I can think of no comparable episode that comes close in my five decades of lived experience. I’m writing, today, to share with all of you an important decision the JSCA Board Executive was required to make this week. As of 1700H April 3, 2020, we have elected to close our facility and compound to all traffic, both member and public, until further notice. There will be no admittance into either the yard or building. We will inform our membership as soon as we feel it is safe and appropriate to resume operations. This decision was not made lightly. And we understand how it may pose inconvenience, frustration, and disappointment for our members. But in light of current medical updates, and in following the good lead of comparable organizations, we felt it was the most responsible and civically-minded measure we could take as a recreational society boasting some 3,000+ members. All Vancouver Community Centres have now closed their doors and during this crisis the JSCA is obligated to pursue health and safety policies that mirror Vancouver Park Board and City mandates. We have also listened closely to the advice and key messaging of federal, provincial, medical, and emergency response authorities and understand that the best possible course of action for all Vancouverites, at this time, is to exercise social-distancing and to remain at home whenever at all practicable. Given our longstanding relationship with all branches of Vancouver’s Emergency Response network, and our own visible role as Jericho Rescue, we feel it is essential for us to support the medical and emergency response community in this emergency health campaign. We also have Jericho members who are medical professionals; they are encouraging us to do the same. Again, I want to reiterate my deepest regrets for having to take this action. But our collective good conscience really cannot allow us to do otherwise. We are all hoping for a speedy end to this current crisis. And we optimistically look forward to the possibility that we may be back out on the water before the end of this Spring. Until then, please be safe, be healthy, and take care. Yours respectfully, Chris Stairs Board ChairJericho Sailing Centre Association Ammended Notice – Craft removal opportunities April 4th and 5th We have received a tremendous amount of feedback, most of it supportive, from JSCA members regarding the decision to close the Jericho Sailing Centre to deter the spread of Covid-19. However, we have been made aware that people should have been given more of an opportunity to remove their craft for storage elsewhere. For this we apologize and offer this solution. We will have staff onsite this weekend April 4 & 5 between 1100H-1500H to allow members to access their craft and locker equipment for removal. We ask that everyone strictly adhere to the Covid-19 public health guidelines for the safety of all. The 2019 membership key will still open the front entrance gate for any member who would like to remove their craft for storage elsewhere. If you need to make some other arrangement please contact me via return email. We thank you for your patience and understanding during this public health crisis. We look forward to seeing everyone on the water again as soon as we have left this in our wake. Fair winds, Mike Cotter, General ManagerJericho Sailing Centre Association mike@jsca.bc.ca
Dear members, The situation regarding COVID-19 is changing rapidly. When we closed the Centre to public access a few days ago we instituted daily office hours for members to pick up a key should they need one. Since then the City of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia have each issued a state of emergency and have asked people to self-isolate at home as much as possible. We re-evaluated how daily office hours put you and our employees at risk, and we’ve decided to terminate office hours effective today, until further notice. Showers and change rooms will now also remain locked. The JSCA is not an essential service. We are strongly encouraging all members to do what they can to limit the spread of COVID-19 by self-isolating at home, maintaining appropriate social distance when they do venture out (when only absolutely necessary), and by practicing diligent hand washing technique. Coming down to the Centre and touching common surfaces such as the doors and gates as well as any shared equipment only increases one’s potential exposure. Furthermore, all events, meetings and room bookings scheduled during April are cancelled until further notice. We will be sending out additional updates as the situation develops. We look forward to re-opening the Jericho Sailing Centre as soon as it is safe to do so. Feel free to direct questions or concerns by email to info@jsca.bc.ca. Stay safe. Stay healthy. JSCA
To our members and to the public, We take the health, safety and welfare of our members, staff and of the general public who interact with our facility very seriously. In an effort to help contain the spread of COVID-19 we’ve closed the Jericho Sailing Centre until further notice. While we won’t be engaging with members or the public face-to-face, administrative staff will be working remotely to continue the business of the Centre. Support staff will be on site in a limited capacity and important surfaces will continue to be cleaned on a regular basis. Our gates will remain closed to the public. Members with keys will be able to access their craft, the locker area, the ramp gates, washrooms and showers. The Lounge and the Galley will remain closed to members and the public. There will be a staff member onsite daily between the hours of 1000 hrs – 1200 hrs effective Thursday March 19th. If you require a member key please contact us via email: info@jsca.bc.ca to set an appointment between 10 am and noon. Once onsite, please call the office and a staff member will come out to the front gate to pass you a key. Note that you must present your valid JSCA membership card in order to attain a member key. We encourage all users of our facility to self-isolate at home during this time. If you do come down to use your craft we ask that you do so only if you are healthy, and we ask that you maintain appropriate social distance at all times. The launch gates must be locked behind you as you bring your craft in and out of the compound. Similarly, the doors to the building and the compound must also be closed behind you as you come and go. Membership dues and storage fees can be paid online with a credit card using the link sent by email earlier this year or by mail with a cheque. We will not be accepting payment in person. To ease potential financial difficulties brought on by anti-Corona virus measures, the deadline for payment of membership and storage dues has been extended to April 30th 2020. All programs and room bookings scheduled for March are officially cancelled including the Annual Spring Cleanup March 28th. An announcement regarding programs in April will be forthcoming in the following weeks. While staff will not be available to interact with you face-to-face. Email and phone messages will be checked and followed-up with on a regular basis. Thanks very much for your understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at info@jsca.bc.ca. Regards, JSCA