Please contact your health care provider, local public health office or call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 if you have concerns about your personal health situation.

If you are seeking non-medical information about COVID-19, please contact the provincial number, open 7 days a week from 7:30 am to 8 p.m, 1-888-COVID19 (1-888-268-4319).

Last updated: March 18, 2020 at  8:15 am.

March 18, 2020 Update

• Classes at all K-12 schools in BC are suspended until further notice to prevent the spread of COVID-19. During this time, the Province of British Columbia has directed schools to develop a plan for continued learning for their students.
• Effective immediately, businesses with liquor primary licences, such as bars, pubs and night clubs, must close as they are unable to adequately meet the requirements of social distancing. Restaurants and cafes that cannot maintain social distancing of one to two meters between patrons will need to move to take-out and delivery models.

March 16, 2020 update

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced additional actions being taken in response to COVID-19 to limit its spread and to provide support to Canadian travellers. The Prime Minister also strongly urged Canadians to follow the recommendations that:

• All Canadians avoid non-essential travel outside the country until further notice.
• Canadian travellers return to Canada via commercial means while they remain available.
• All travellers to Canada self-isolate for 14 days upon entry, with exceptions for workers who are essential to the movement of goods and people.

Additionally, new air travel regulations are now in place:

• International flights will only be permitted to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, and Calgary International Airport.
• Foreign nationals are not permitted. Moving forward, only air crews, travellers arriving in Canada in transit to a third country, Canadian permanent residents, diplomats, or immediate family members of Canadian citizens will be permitted to land by air in Canada.

View the full press release from the Prime Minister.

Additional recent changes to the local and provincial COVID-19 response include:

• City of Surrey recreation centres, ice arenas, culture facilities, pools and libraries are closed until further notice. Mayor Doug McCallum has directed the closure of these facilities to minimize the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• City Hall, Surrey Operations Centre, Animal Control, Cemetery Services, and Emergency Services will remain open with business as usual, with social distancing risk reduction measures in place. As the situation evolves, further changes in operations will be communicated.
• Spring break camps and licensed childcare programs will continue to operate with risk reduction measures in place.
• Events organized by the City of Surrey that host more than 50 people will be cancelled until further notice. A list of cancelled events can be found below.
• ​​The BCCDC has mandated that all event organizers cancel any gathering larger than 50 people. This includes indoor and outdoor sporting events, conferences, meetings, religious gatherings or other similar events. This threshold has been selected, as it is much easier to maintain important social distancing to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

The City Pandemic Response Committee is in constant dialogue with public health authorities, including Fraser Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control. The City continues to monitor the situation and will provide updates to ensure residents and City staff are kept informed and safe. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the new coronavirus outbreak a worldwide pandemic.

What the City of Surrey is Doing

• We have increased cleaning protocols within our facilities and provided guidance to employees and visitors on best-practices to reduce the risk of transmission
• Posting signage at facilities regarding general program closures.
• Posting signage reminding both members of the public and staff to stay away if they are feeling sick.
• All City of Surrey organized gatherings with 50 people or more are cancelled until further notice, as directed by the Provincial Health Officer
• We have implemented measures recommended by the Provincial government including social distancing and travel restrictions
• The City of Surrey’s Pandemic Response Committee has been activated since mid-February to ensure essential City services, such as water, sewers, police, and fire are maintained
• Ensuring business critical staff have the right tools should they need to work from home
• Working with the business community to assess and understand economic impact and potential strategies
• We are reminding residents that there are several transactions that can be done fully online. See our online services page for more information.

Send us your questions or concerns about coronavirus (COVID-19) within Surrey to COVID-19@surrey.ca.

How to protect yourself and others

We encourage you to follow the same procedures as what are recommended during cold and flu season:

• Stay home if you get sick and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
• Wash hands regularly with soap and water. This is the single most effective way of reducing infection spread.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a sleeve/tissue and turn your head away from others when coughing or sneezing.
• Use tissues to contain secretions and dispose of them promptly in a waste container.
• Keep common surface areas like doorknobs, light switches and keyboards, clean and disinfected.

Health resources

Please read official sources on the coronavirus for information on symptoms, transmission, self-monitoring, self-isolation, and prevention, as misinformation has been circulating on social media:

• BC Centre for Disease Control website – Coronavirus Information
• Fraser Health website – FAQs for Residents
• HealthLinkBC – Coronavirus
• BC COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool

Travel Recommendations

The following travel recommendations are now in place:

• All Canadians avoid non-essential travel outside the country until further notice.
• Canadian travellers return to Canada via commercial means while they remain available.
• All travellers to Canada self-isolate for 14 days upon entry, with exceptions for workers who are essential to the movement of goods and people.

Additionally, new air travel regulations are now in place:

• International flights will only be permitted to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, and Calgary International Airport.
• Ban foreign nationals. Moving forward, only air crews, travellers arriving in Canada in transit to a third country, Canadian permanent residents, diplomats, or immediate family members of Canadian citizens will be permitted to land by air in Canada.

If you have previously travelled to an area/location affected by the Coronavirus in the past 14 days and during your self-isolation, please monitor yourself daily for symptoms, such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing. If symptoms develop within 14 days of leaving the affected area/location, call your health care provider or 8-1-1 to discuss any need for testing and follow up. If symptoms do not develop within 14 days, there is no concern for a possible infection.

Businesses

The Surrey Board of Trade has released a series of Pandemic Preparedness Guides intended for private sector businesses to prepare for the COVID-19 situation. These guides can also be used as Business Emergency Continuity Guides.

City Facility Closures

City of Surrey recreation centres, ice arenas, culture facilities, pools and libraries are closed effective Monday, March 16 until further notice. Mayor Doug McCallum has directed the closure of these facilities to minimize the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Refunds or credits will be provided to anyone who has registered for activities affected by the closure and library due dates will be suspended during this period.

City Hall, and the Surrey Operations Centre will remain open.

Spring break camps and licensed childcare programs will continue to operate. These programs are a valuable service to families who are working during this unprecedented time of COVID-19. The decision to remain open is done following the guidelines of:

• “2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) B.C. - Public Health Guidance for Schools and Childcare Programs” (Feb. 23, 2020) which advised schools and licensed childcare programs do not need to close at this time.
• BC Centre for Disease Control

Enhanced preventative measures in spring break camps and licensed childcare programs have been put in place in order to reduce the risk of transmission of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19. The City of Surrey will continue to work with Fraser Health to closely monitor for any changes in guidelines for day camps and licensed childcare programs.

Facility closure list

Event cancellations

Events organized by the City of Surrey that host more than 50 people will be cancelled until further notice. A list of cancelled events is in the process of being updated.

To protect yourself and others, the City asks all citizens and visitors if they are sick or have flu-like symptoms, returning from a COVID-19 affected area or have underlying health conditions that may be impacted by respiratory illness, to self isolate and stay away from scheduled events and large gatherings, as recommended by the Provincial Health Officer.

We are actively monitoring the situation and will continue to evaluate our approach in collaboration with Fraser Health.

Cancelled events

Notices of any event cancellations will be posted here:

• Active Aging Resource Fair
• Arctic Voices Museum of Surrey Exhibition Spotlight
• Arctic Voices Museum of Surrey Spring Break Event
• Canucks Autism Network: Adapted Hockey Tournament
• Crescent Beach Pop-up Gallery: Show and Tell
• Crescent Beach Pop-up Gallery: The Nature of Our Country
• Crescent Beach Pop-up Gallery: When the Smoke Clears
• Eggapolooza
• Get Growing at Darts Hill
• Old-Fashioned Easter Celebration
• Newton-King George Boulevard Plan Open House
• REACH Surrey Autism Event
• South Surrey Pre-teen Dance
• Surrey Art Gallery Family Sunday
• Surrey Art Gallery Spring Opening
• Surrey Knights Swim Club Meet
• SX College Showcase
• Ukrainian Easter
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC Combine
• Vaisakhi Day Parade

Events cancelled until further notice

Notices of any events that have been cancelled until further notice will be posted here:

• 16th Annual Early Years Festival
• Art and Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
• Heritage Campus Completion Celebration
• Party for the Planet

Contact

For more information on coronavirus (COVID-19) within Surrey, please contact COVID-19@surrey.ca.