COVID-19: Small group protests coronavirus restrictions in Vancouver

Author of the article:David CarriggPublishing date:8 hours ago • 2 minute read

A group protesting COVID-19 restrictions gathered in Kitsilano on Sunday. Susan Standfield is standing on the left in the yellow t-shirt. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

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Susan Standfield, inspired by the Operation Gridlock movement south of the border, decided to join a small anti-COVID restrictions protest on Sunday afternoon.

Standfield — who co-founded the Hope in the Shadows calendar that raises money in the Downtown Eastside — said her household income had dropped by 80 per cent since a state of emergency was declared in British Columbia last month to try and curtail the spread of COVID-19 infection.

“I saw something going on in Ohio, and then D.C., with Operation Gridlock. So I thought let’s go,” said Standfield.

Operation Gridlock is a protest movement across the U.S. in which protestors demand the governors of their states lift or loosen stay-at-home and other COVID-19 restrictions in the nation that has seen the most COVID-19 deaths. On Sunday, there were protests in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Washington.

The protest in Kitsilano on Sunday attracted about 25 people, carrying an array of of placards. Standfield, wearing a ball-cap saying Silenced, had a sign “I don’t want to be an unpaid teacher. No more lockdowns.”

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The group was standing in close quarters and did not attract any positive reaction from passersby while Postmedia News was present.

A group protesting COVID-19 restrictions gathered in Kitsilano on Sunday. NICK PROCAYLO/PNG

Standfield said she contacted the Vancouver Police Department two hours before the protest to let them know. This was the third anti-restrictions protest in Vancouver. Last Sunday’s protest made use of the #endthelockdown tag in several of its placards.

The following day, B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix described the protesters as “marginal” and asked that they be ignored.

Standfield said several police officers escorted the protest group from Burrard and 1st Avenue, south to 4th, west to Yew Street, then north to Cornwall.

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She believed countries like Sweden, South Korea and Belarus had done a better job than Canada and British Columbia with managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Lots of countries are doing it more strategically, more surgically, protecting weak people, but keeping the economy going,” Standfield said.

As of April 18, there were 579 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., of whom 169 were recovering in hospital. Eighty-one people have died from the infection, that is passed through coughing and sneezing.

Last week, provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said it would be at least three weeks before any restrictions were lifted.

Close to six million people have applied for COVID-19 emergency aid benefits across Canada in the past month.

dcarrigg@postmedia.com

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