Masks are now mandatory at both seniors activity centres in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, as per the latest mandate by the Provincial Health Officer.
As of Wednesday, everyone visiting the building will need to wear a mask, with the exception of eating a meal in the dining room or while exercising, explained executive director of the Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Maria Perretta.
And, she noted, they are waiting for more details to be released about vaccine passports.
The centres, though, are still open with almost all programs up and running again – almost at pre-pandemic levels.
About 95 per cent of the programs that were available pre-COVID were made available to clients as of Aug. 3, at regular capacity.
And Perretta is still anticipating re-opening some evenings and weekends, although they are trying to figure out when.
Karaoke, ukulele, and Silvertones are not able to return currently because of current COVID-19 guidelines.
Staff will continue to monitor who is in the building at any given time and those entering the building will still be expected to sanitize their hands.
Increased building sanitization will also continue.
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People will still be encouraged to maintain social distancing and not to congregate in the main hall.
“RMSS continues to do our best to keep our centres safe, and we ask our members to do the same whether they are vaccinated or not,” said Perretta.
“We continue to ask our visitors and members to refrain from coming to the centres if feeling unwell. We encourage keeping distance and practicing goo hand hygiene with reminders all over our buildings.
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“Becoming complacent at this point in time is all too tempting - however, keeping everyone’s health in mind, we all need to share the responsibility. It allows us to reap the rewards of keeping our centres open,” she noted.
The Maple Ridge Seniors Activity Centre is open from 9-3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and the Pitt Meadows centre is open from 9-4 p.m.
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