B.C. bans liquor sales after 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve

The sale of liquor for in-house or off sales must stop as of 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and not resume until 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

That’s a new health order issued today, Dec. 30, by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry during her COVID-19 news briefing today, Dec. 30.

“Leading into New Year’s Eve, particularly in some of our resort communities and some of the areas where that we’ve traditionally seen parties develop, sometimes spontaneously and often, from a public health perspective, that’s fuelled by indulging a bit too much in alcohol,” Dr. Henry said.

People tend to behave well early in the evening but sometimes get carried away later in the evening after consuming too much alcohol, she noted.

Bars will have to close at 9 p.m. but restaurants can stay open later as long as they only serve food and do not serve alcohol.

There were 485 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. in the last 24 hours, with 57 of those in the Interior Health region. That means 51,300 B.C. residents have been infected with the virus since January with 3,806 of those living in the Interior Health region.

Of the new cases, 211 were in the Fraser Health region, 117 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 16 in the Vancouver Island Health region and 84 in the Northern Health region.

There were 11 deaths in B.C., bringing the death toll to 893.

There are 7,551 active cases in B.C. with 379 people in hospital, of which 77 are in intensive care.

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