Thursday December 17, 2020 | VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., editor | Island Social Trends
While the second surge of COVID-19 continues to rage around the province and across the country, Vancouver Islanders seem to have pulled in their horns again. There were just four new test-positive cases today within Island Health.
However, there are still 76 active cases. Of those, five people are in hospital, with four in presumably worse condition as they are in intensive care or critical care. Hospitalizations to date this year on Vancouver Island total to 48 (just 1.9 percent of the BC total 2,419 hospitalizations). In total there have been 803 cases on Vancouver Island to date.
The active outbreak at Saanich Peninsula Hospital has 10 staff members and 10 patients who’ve tested positive (as of December 16).
The greatest number of COVID cases are seen among working-age adults throughout BC. Compare island COVID case count by age (to all-BC), at December 17:
- Age 20-29: 160 cases (10,129 BC)
- Age 30-39: 141 cases (8,186 BC)
- Age 40-49: 97 cases (6,649 BC)
- Age 50-59: 124 cases (5,804 BC)
- Age 60-69: 98 cases (3,625 BC)
For some reason the 40-49 age group is proportionately lower on Vancouver Island than in the full-BC profile. That could have to do with variance of the types of front-line employment where people are directly exposed to the virus (different job profile on the island than on the mainland).
There was one new COVID-related death in Island Health in the last 24 hours. There have now been nine deaths on Vancouver Island this year due to COVID (three of those in just the last two weeks, during this second wave). That’s just 1.26 percent of all BC deaths due to COVID this year.
The normalcy of COVID at year-end:
That there is some normalcy or acceptance of the daily reporting of COVID cases is a bit unsettling, but this is how deep our society has found itself in this once-in-a-century type of pandemic.
Year-end feature interviews with the prime minister are coming up this Sunday December 20 on both CTV and CBC, giving some perspective on the overall scheme of things as we head into 2021.
Vaccines now in the picture:
Vaccines are now a part of the COVID scenario, trickling in now to BC for administration to front-line health care workers including workers in long-term care.
The mRNA vaccine by Pfizer was the first type to be delivered to Canada this week; BC’s first injection-day was Tuesday December 15, with an appropriate amount of public attention for this significant moment in the history of our province and in the realm of public health:
- Video of the first vaccine in B.C. being administered to Nisha Yunus in the Vancouver Coastal region (December 15, 2020)
- Video of the vaccine being administered to Linda Latour in the Fraser Health region. (December 15, 2020)
- BC information on COVID-19 vaccines.
Nevertheless, “there is too much transmission in our community,” said Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry today during her media availability. She says the virus is being transmitted in long-term care, workplaces and schools.
Dr Henry said today that it will take weeks to get things back under control. “Everyone, keep your gatherings small,” she said as Christmas approaches and people will be struggling to contain their regular family Christmas gatherings to household-only.
Long-term care:
Vaccines will be available on Vancouver Island starting next week. But it will be “some time until we can fill that gap and keep people protected”, said Dr Henry today. Particularly with respect to the spread of infection in long-term care: “It’s important that we pay attention to how we’re interacting with people in long-term care,” she said, having to do with how soon there can be more visits and social contact in long-term care.
“COVID is on the march,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix today, in the same context. In other words, this is not the time to let up on protections.
Wear masks, only household gatherings:
The current provincial health order (to midnight January 8, 2021) is for people to wear masks in all public spaces and to keep gatherings to household-only. The state of emergency in BC continues (presently to December 22 but has been renewed every two weeks since March 18 of this year). The Canada-US border remains closed to all but essential travel and commerce (presently to January 21, 2021).
Vaccine forecast:
The next mRNA type of vaccine — by Moderna — will be arriving soon in BC, Dr Henry said. It requires shipping and storage at just -20°C (compared to the Pfizer vaccine which has proven to be more strident in its requirements (temperature has to remain below -70°C during shipping, and once thawed has to be used right away).
In 2021 the amount of frequency of vaccine availability will increase as the year unfolds. Factors for timing of availability include type of vaccine (including the timing of a second booster shot) and how it needs to travel and be stored in terms of refrigeration.
Nationally, there have been orders placed with a number of vaccine providers, aiming to have enough vaccines available for all Canadians (who wish to be vaccinated) by the summer or fall of next year.
Next COVID live media sessions:
BC Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control issue written statements about the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday through Friday.
The next live session with Dr Henry and Minister Dix will be on Monday December 21, followed by a modelling update by Dr Henry and her team on Wednesday December 23.
Those sessions are usually livestreamed at 3 pm (though sometimes at 3:30 pm). Check the Island Social Trends bulletins page for current information on date/time.
