Saturday April 4, 2020 ~ VICTORIA
by Mary Brooke, B.Sc. ~ West Shore Voice News
Today’s daily COVID-19 media briefing by BC Provincial Health Officer (PHO) Dr Bonnie Henry began with the usual listing off the day’s confirmed-case statistics.
Today Saturday April 4, Dr Henry announced 29 new confirmed cases in BC, bringing the total to 1,203 (up from 1,174 yesterday and 1,121 the day before). That includes 554 in Vancouver Coastal Health (up in one day from 541), 424 (up by 12) in Fraser Health, 76 in Island Health (that’s up two since yesterday), 128 in Interior Health (up from 126), and 21 in Northern Health (same as yesterday).
Compared to outbreaks in other North American locations — notably New York City right now — the BC numbers seem tame. Indeed, Dr Henry feels that at the moment some positive results are being seen in BC from the social distancing effort being taken by people around the province (in alignment with her PHO orders).
Of today’s 1,203 tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases in BC, 149 people are hospitalized (with 68 in ICU or critical care units). And 704 have fully recovered.
LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES HAVE OUTBREAKS:
In the statistics announced today, is a profile showing that 23 of the outbreaks in BC are in long term care facilities. One more long term care facility (in Fraser Health) was new on today’s list (but not identified).
At April 2 the list of affected long term care facilities included 22 facilities:
- Vancouver Coastal Health region: Lynn Valley long-term care facility; Hollyburn long-term care facility; Haro Park long-term care facility; German Canadian House long-term care facility; Little Mountain long-term care facility; Broadway Pentecostal Lodge long-term care facility; Windermere Care Centre long-term care facility; Villa Cathay long-term care facility; Inglewood Lodge long-term care facility; Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility; Berkley Care Centre long-term care facility
- Fraser Health: Delta View long-term care facility; Dufferin Care Centre (Coquitlam); Evergreen Heights (assisted living); The Harrison at Elim Village long-term care facility; Langley Gardens long-term care facility; Shaughnessy Care Centre long-term care facility; Amica Retirement Home long-term care facility; Langley Lodge long-term care facility; Swedish Canadian Manor assisted living; Cedarbrook Chateau independent living.
“This is an area of particular focus,” Dr Henry told media today, referring to long term care homes on the Lower Mainland. Two of the most serious outbreaks continue — at the Lynn Valley Care Centre and Haro Park Complex Care. “Most of the rest of them manage with a single case detached. Catching it early has made a huge difference,” said Dr Henry.
DEATHS FROM COVID-19 IN BC
Three deaths due to COVID-19 were reported today by Dr Henry. “We recognize that this number represents people who are dear to their families, friends, and will be missed,” she said. Total deaths in BC now at 38 (up from 35 yesterday and 31 the day before).
RESEARCH & ADVICE
Dr Henry is pleased with research efforts going on to help support the province’s response to COVID-19. She said it is “the best possible information that contributes to the worldwide understanding of this disease – how it is treated and managed, and connections to important research around the world”.
A COVID-19 research advisory committee is being led by David Patrick who is a physician and epidemiologist with the BC Centre for Disease Control and the University of British Columbia. Dr Henry says Dr Patrick has taken the lead in” developing our research from early January when we put our response team together”.
The COVID-19 Strategic Research Advisory Committee team includes scientists, researchers and medical professionals from around the province. Public health experts include Dr Perry Kendall “to provide advice at this critical time”, says Dr Henry. Dr Kendall was BC’s Provincial Health Officer for many years prior to Dr Henry being hired into the job in 2018.
The research advisory committee “contributes to information that we get on a daily basis, to help us understanding how we’re doing,” such as the modelling that was presented to the media and the public last Friday March 27, said Dr Henry today.
The COVID-19 Strategic Research Advisory Committee will focus on BC-specific epidemiology and public health countermeasures to address some of the challenges of long-term care homes, inner city populations, rural communities, Indigenous people, and health-care workers. This is in addition to a variety of research that is already underway across BC.
The Michael Smith Foundation was given $2 million in early January for health research as the COVID-19 situation began to unfold. The foundation is aligned with the Canadian Institute for Health Research, health authorities, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and many more partnerships, said Dr Henry today.
The work of the Michael Smith Foundation allows for “rapid evaluation of public health counter measures”. Things like how well are we doing, travel restrictions, cancelling of in-classroom teaching, and distancing measures in place across society. “We’re understanding which work and how well they work,” said Dr Bonnie Henry today April 4.
BENDING THE CURVE
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 are being seen. So far, there has been no major escalation in hospitalizations for COVID-19.
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 yesterday, 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.
Beds have been freed up by having cancelled elective (but still medically-required) surgeries back on March 16.
Today Dr Henry said there is a process being planned for reintroducing the suspended previously scheduled elective surgeries, when the time comes. For now “we are still in the thick of things”. British Columbians should continue staying home and practicing physical distancing.
Dr Henry thinks after Easter (Good Friday is April 10, Easter Sunday is April 12, and Easter Monday is April 13) that some further evidence of the success of COVID-19 mitigation might be seen. So that’s another few weeks of figuratively kicking the can down the road. “Weeks or months” has been a bit of a mantra over several weeks in Dr Henry’s daily presentations to media.
Dr Henry and Minister Dix have been saying for weeks that they need everyone to be “100% all in” with regards to self-isolation and physical distancing. Dix said yesterday: “We are continuing to work very hard” and that everyone has to “double down” on their activities, and not let up the good fight.
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.
In BC most of the cases of people age 20 to 40 have been among health care workers in the many affected long term care homes. And most of those are women, Dr Henry said today, due to the nature of the work being done mostly by female employees.
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.
WILL THERE BE A SECOND WAVE?
Will there be another wave of COVID-19 in the fall? “We don’t really know,” said Dr Henry today. “Some theories are based on things that have happened with other respiratory viruses. “Influenza and other corona viruses do circulate (four pretty regularly),” she said. She is hoping this wave will subside with all current measures helping to reduce transmission. “That’s what we’re aiming for in BC.”
“There is evidence that this coronavirus is behaving like other coronaviruses,” the PHO said. Specifically she referred to increased light and warmer temperatures making respiratory viruses tend to fade away. “Flu goes away in summer, with re-emergence in fall.”
“During our respiratory season that next fall we’ll see naturally an increase again, even if the measures we have taken are in place. We need to watch that carefully, and how this virus is going to behave,” said Dr Bonnie Henry today.
“With one caveat … when there is a new virus into human population with no immunity, it will not fade away like with the ones we’ve had for a while,” she said. Dr Henry continued: “We will flatten the curve and that will buy us time so that we closer we get to summer we can take advantage of the natural waning of disease and that will work as well for this coronavirus”.D
CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 at APRIL 4:
Click here to see all of today’s statistics (April 4, 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/
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