Friday April 3, 2020 ~ VANCOUVER
by Mary Brooke, B.Sc. ~ West Shore Voice News
Today’s daily COVID-19 media briefing by BC Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry as usual began with listing off the day’s confirmed-case statistics.
Today Friday April 3, Dr Henry announced 53 new confirmed cases in BC, bringing the total to 1,174 (up from 1,121 yesterday). That includes 541 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 412 in Fraser Health, 74 in Island Health, 126 in Interior Health, and 21 in Northern Health.
The number of cases on Vancouver Island have seen a slow rise, but now there have been two deaths on the island. In total for BC, there have now been 35 deaths in BC, up from 31 yesterday.
Both Dr Henry and Minister Dix each day offer their condolences and thoughts to the families who are impacted by these relatively sudden deaths of their loved ones.
COVID-19 IN LONG TERM CARE
Dr Henry outlined that there is one more long-term care home on the list where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in BC. That bring the total to 22 care homes and 176 of the cases. “It reflects the difficulty that we have in outbreaks in long term care,” she said.
All of the long-term care outbreaks have pretty much resulted from a single resident being a positive carrier of COVID-19. Care workers in those settings often work in more than one location (which is apparently being addressed for the future but it’s difficult to achieve one-facility-only for each worker given the high demand now for that type of care).
But Dr Henry said there are “very active outbreak teams for long term care… these are being identified very early”, so they are able to control them.
The new case today is related to earlier outbreaks at Lynn Valley Care Centre and the Haro Park Complex Care facility (both of those are on the Vancouver Lower Mainland).
HOSPITALIZATIONS and FLATTENING THE CURVE
The number of hosptalizations for COVID-19 has gone down to 146 (from 149 yesterday) and of those, 64 are in critical care units (ICU) which is down from 68 the day before. Those numbers for in or out of the ICU will vary based on whether patients are on ventilators or not, Dr Henry explained in recent days.
As of today April 3, there are 641 people “who have completely recovered from this disease,” the Provincial Health Officer said.
Yesterday Dr Henry was quite articulate about this week being a point in time where the first round of results of self-isolation and physical distancing efforts will be seen.
Physical distancing means limiting close contact with others. See more details on the BC Centre for Disease Control website.
If the strategy to isolate and separate has been effective, there will not be as huge a surge in cases to hospital compared to what would probably happen under unmitigated conditions.
The whole idea has been to slow down the rate of active cases that require hospitalization, a process we’ve all rapidly come to know in the public health lingo as ‘flattening the curve’.
The onslaught of more COVID-19 cases in BC is obviously still expected by public health officials. As of today, Minister Dix reported the availability of 4,399 “empty acute care beds” across BC’s 19 primary care hospitals that are set up for dealing with COVID-19. He said that is 59% of beds in BC (that are not already set aside for things like cancer or pediatric care), or 41% of beds that are not accepting patients with anything other than COVID-19.
Today’s number of beds is up by 207 from yesterday’s count of 4,192. Beds have been freed up by having cancelled elective (but still medically-required) surgeries back on March 16.
Today Minister Dix outlined some of the types of previously booked surgeries that are now on hold, including 1,208 for hip and knee replacements, 240 for dental (at a level beyond what can be done at a regular dental office), and 7,801 other. Dix said BC Health is committed to getting back to that list and ensuring access for patients with those needs.
ABOUT THE DISEASE
As BC Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry has been telling British Columbians, not everyone presents with severe symptoms of the disease, articulating that elderly people (generally over age 65 or 70), people with underlying health conditions and people who are immuno-challenged will have a tougher time of it. But today in Canada a woman in her 20s died of COVID-19; whether she had underlying health conditions is not yet known.
There is no treatment, cure or vaccine for counteracting the COVID-19 coronavirus at this time. Best hope for a vaccine is likely by the fall of 2021, based on the usual timelines required for development and testing of a new vaccine.
Dr Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have been saying for weeks that they need everyone to be “100% all in” with regards to self-isolation and physical distancing. Today Minister Dix said “We are continuing to work very hard” and that everyone has to “double down” on their activities, and not let up the good fight.
ADMINISTRATION & SUPPLY
Other matters commented on by Dix included the management of free parking spaces for nurses and health care workers who otherwise have enough to worry about.
As well, he referred to the USA’s decision to block the shipment of N95 masks to Canada as ‘parochial’ and articulated that the materials from which those masks are manufactured in the USA are shipped into the USA from Canada. [See CBC article on this cross-border news development about Trump telling 3M not to ship masks to Canada.] This is in keeping with a global awareness theme by Dix over recent weeks, summarized as COVID-19 ‘knowing no borders’ and that the pandemic is a global experience now.
3M is a major manufacturer of the N95 masks that are part of the personal protective equipment (PPE) kit that frontline health care workers need.
N95 masks get their name because of the claim that they filter out 95% of air particles, including viruses, when used properly. Countries around the world are finding themselves short of the masks as health-care systems are overwhelmed by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease.
Dix lauded the Ministry of Health staffers who are “working their guts out” and who are working “unbelievable amounts of overtime”, including at the main BC Health offices on Blanshard Street in Victoria or from their remote working locations at home. “I’m very proud of them,” said Dix. “They are providing enormous support to Dr Henry and Deputy Minister Stephen Brown.”
CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 at APRIL 3:
Click here to see all of today’s statistics (April 3, 2020) from the BC Centre for Disease Control.
==== OTHER LINKS:
For more information on the COVID-19 ethics framework, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-professionals/clinical-resources/covid-19-care/ethics
For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and testing, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/
Or follow @CDCofBC
For provincial health officer orders, notices and guidance, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/phoguidance
For non-health related information, including financial, child care and education supports, travel, transportation and essential service information, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/covid19
Or call 1 888 COVID19 (1 888 268-4319) between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week.
For recommendations on protecting yourself and your community from COVID-19, and to use an online self-assessment tool, visit: www.bccdc.ca/
The COVID-19 self-assessment app can be downloaded here: https://bc.thrive.health/
For the latest videos and livestreaming of COVID-19 media availabilities, visit:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/BCProvincialGovernment/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGovNews
Or Youtube: www.youtube.com/ProvinceofBC