Monday September 21, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., editor | Island Social Trends
COVID case numbers rolled out like usual, and today there was mention of how a provincial election can be done safely during the pandemic.
This was Provincial Health Officer (PHO) Dr Bonnie Henry’s first COVID press conference during the 2020 provincial election period, held this afternoon September 21, just four hours after Premier John Horgan announced a snap election for October 24.
Until a new government is in place, British Columbians will hear directly from public health about the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Dix & James will be updated daily:
Health Minister Adrian Dix gave his last press conference yesterday, announcing the go-ahead for hospital expansion in Prince George. Both Dix and outgoing Deputy Premier Carole James as caretaker premier during the election will be briefed daily by the PHO on the COVID situation.
A weekly report on PPE inventory in BC will be provided as a written statement on Tuesdays, and there will also be a weekly update on surgical renewal in the BC health care system.
Live COVID-19 updates by Dr Henry will continue on Mondays and Thursdays during the election campaign. Daily written statements with BC Centre for Disease Control COVID-19 statistics and relevant public health updates will be issued daily as well.
September 21 COVID-19 case profile:
Today the COVID case total in BC stands at 8,208. That includes 366 new cases reported for the last three days (Fri-Sat Sept 18-19 saw 121 cases, Sat-Sun Sept 19-20 saw 117 cases, and Sun-Mon Sept 20-21 saw 128 cases).
Of the 366 new cases, seven were on Vancouver Island (all in people under age 40).
There are 1,987 people actively dealing with COVID-19 infection, with 60 of those in hospital (21 of whom are in intensive care or critical care). To date, 709 people in BC have been hospitalized due to COVID-19.
As of September 21, there are 3,233 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. This impacts personal, social and economic activities for the person and probably also their family and co-workers.
Four people died from COVID-19 over the three days since the Friday COVID report; three were in long-term care and another had been in hospital in Northern Health already for a while, said Dr Henry. The death total in BC stands at 227.
Heart impacts and long-term effects:
This is not a disease to be cavalier about. Said to have recovered is a count of 5,972 in BC, though impacts from the infection can linger for a long time after being declared test-negative. The disease can be acquired and suffered by persons of any age.
Ongoing health effects so far appear to include inflammatory response throughout the body (seen most notably in children), cardiovascular impacts, deep fatigue, and some aspects of cognitive function.
“Inflammation of blood vessels in the heart can last for a period of time,” said Dr Henry today. “Some people are not able to resume their activities for many weeks to months,” she said. All of this has serious impacts on mental, emotional, social and economic well-being.
While much of the focus on COVID-19 is on the respiratory transmission of the virus, the heart and blood vessel inflammation aspects of the disease are gaining traction in medical analysis.
Back in July, a JAMA Cardiology study found that, among 100 adults who recently recovered from COVID-19, 78% showed some type of cardiac involvement in MRI scans and 60% had ongoing inflammation in the heart. And as far back as April 6, Scientific American published an article about cardiac damage in as many as one in five COVID patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress.
Dr Henry summarized today that it is still mostly people over 60 and anyone with underlying health conditions (including lung, heart and immune-challenged) who have a higher risk of death from COVID-19.
