The biggest ski resort in B.C. will stay closed for nearly a month longer than required, Whistler Blackcomb announced Tuesday (March 30).
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday that Whistler was seeing too many cases despite testing, contact tracing and immunization of workers who live in the ski community.
鈥淲e are starting to see cases increase again in that community, particularly in the past week with the more worrisome cluster of the P1 Brazil variant of concern,鈥� Henry said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e also seen transmission from travel to and from other communities across b.c. from the Whistler area.鈥�
Henry had ordered Whistler Blackcomb to shut down until April 19 as part of B.C.鈥檚 鈥渃ircuit breaker,鈥� which also saw a variety of indoor activities such as group fitness, dining and worship services shut down.
In a statement, Whistler Blackcomb CEO Geoff Buchheister said that while the order was surprising, the resort would immediately comply.
鈥淎t this time, we believe the best thing we can do to support the order is to begin winding down winter operations,鈥� said Buchheister. 鈥淲e did not make this decision lightly as we know our employees and our community put so much effort into following our COVID operating guidelines so we could safely operate this season. Our full attention will now turn to getting our resort ready to safely open for summer.鈥�
Any reservations for lift tickets, ski school and dining for this time period will be cancelled and the resort said it will communicated about any refunds to its guests.
The resort is scheduled to reopen for summer operations on May 21.
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