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City of Richmond declares emergency
By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Published 11:07 PDT, Fri March 20, 2020
Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
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Richmond city council declared a state of emergency Thursday night (March 19) at a special council meeting.
This declaration ensures that council can quickly and effectively address emerging issues, increasing the city’s preparedness and hastening responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These are difficult and unprecedented times,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “The precautions, closures of facilities and cancellation of programs over the past several days have been made in the best interest and wellbeing of our residents and employees, and through the recommendations and direction of our public health officials.”
Community facilities—including libraries, community centres, and the Richmond Olympic Oval—have been closed since March 17.
The new measures will see city hall be closed to the public as of March 23 for a period of 30 days, with the exception of council meetings, public hearings and standing committee meetings. After 30 days, the status of the closure will be reviewed.
Spring break camps operating at community centres will be cancelled as of March 23.
For more information on the city’s response to COVID-19, visit www.richmond.ca/covid19