Friday September 4, 2020 ~ ALL OF BC
Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
“We know COVID-19 is going to be in our communities for many months ahead, so our focus needs to be on keeping our communities vibrant and healthy, and keeping new cases low by breaking the chain of transmission,” said Provincial Health Officer (PHO) Dr Bonnie Henry on Thursday.
“Our well-being includes getting back to work, getting back into classrooms, keeping our businesses going and staying healthy,” she said within a broader statement about pulling back on social interactions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Getting back to flattening the curve:
“We simply have to look at the successes we have seen in recent months to show us what we need to do,” she said as part of a plea to start pushing the curve back down.
Referring to the Restart BC economic activity since mid-May, the PHO said: “Thousands of our restaurants have reopened, millions of trees have been planted this summer and many people have safely restarted recreational sports once again.”
“However, as we look to the fall, now is the time to pause the activities that we know are a high risk to all of us — spending time with groups of people we don’t know without taking personal precautions,” Dr Henry said.
A second wave of the COVID-19 viral pandemic is expected on top of the annual influenza season which usually kicks in by late September or early October in BC each year.
COVID-19 case counts have been pushing over 100 on several days in the past few weeks. Today in her 8th epidemiological data presentation Dr Henry asked British Columbians to start pulling back, ideally getting their level of social interaction back down to around 50% of normal. Lately it’s been pushing up to about 75% of normal.
There is no safe number:
“Now is also the time to think about the number of contacts you have. There is no ‘safe’ number, but fewer people is better. If you know you have more interactions ahead – for example, if you are returning to work – then it is a good idea to reduce your time with other contacts,” said Dr Henry.
Regarding the upcoming Labour Day long weekend (Saturday September 5 through Monday September 7), she said yesterday: “This upcoming long weekend, choose to go small, to spend time with your household bubble instead of a group of strangers, and choose to use the layers of protection, wherever you may go.”
That’s because after Labour Day comes back-to-school, with all the challenges of doing that amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
This comes after a summer of expanding social bubbles and enjoying recreation outdoors. It’s the indoor parties and larger-than-advised gatherings where COVID-19 spread has resulted.
We have the tools:
“We have the tools and we can make the right choices,” said BC’s Provincial Health Officer. She was referring to physical distancing, frequent hand washing, respiratory etiquette, keeping bubbles small, and staying home if feeling the least bit unwell.
“To be successful in this next phase, we need to step back to safely move forward, so let’s all make that choices that will keep our communities, our Elders, our loved ones and ourselves safe,” said Dr Henry today in her trademark calm and methodical way.
===== Links:
Going Forward – COVID data modelling (September 3, 2020)