First Nation Community COVID-19 Travel Bans and Protocols
Rolling Document- August 2020
Summary:
This rolling document was prepared by Natasha Kim, UBCIC Policy Researcher and Writer, and is intended to be a starting guide of current travel bans/travel restrictions, as well as related health and safety measures and protocols, that First Nations in BC have adopted and implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone looking for additional information should visit the Nation’s website or contact the Nation directly. It should be noted that many Nations have chosen not to make their protocols public on their websites, have made this information available to members only, or do not have operating sites wherein this information can be found.
The majority of Nations declared a State of Emergency and enacted COVID-19 community protection by-laws. These by-laws allowed them to formally prohibit non-residents and/or non-essential visitors from travelling into their communities and allowed them to set up road checkpoints and community gates monitored by contracted security. Currently, many Nation are now putting into effect phased re-opening plans – contingent upon the number of cases and the trajectory of COVID-19 takes in the province – and are beginning to ease travel restrictions.