Monday October 26, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 12 noon October 27, 2020]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., editor | Island Social Trends
The 3-day BC COVID case count from this past weekend skyrocketed by 817, bringing the provincial total to 13,371. Over 5,000 people are self-isolating due to known exposure to the virus. There have been four new outbreaks in long-term care (in the lower mainland) and one additional school outbreak (now two in total). | Click here for a more detailed October 26, 2020 stats analysis.
Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry called the new numbers “a sobering weekend”. With the largest-ever number of daily cases (317) recorded between October 23 and 24 (Friday to Saturday) — together with 293 Saturday to Sunday and 207 Sunday to today — BC’s top doctor says the growth in case numbers is “concerning, especially in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions”.
She and her public health team at the BC Centre for Disease Control have pinpointed much of the source of the many new cases as small family gatherings such as weddings and celebrations of life but a lot of that also from over the October 10 to 12 Thanksgiving long weekend (despite her request that people gather within COVID protocols during celebrations).
Face masks now required in all indoor public spaces:
Dr Henry is worried about the transmission of COVID-19 getting out of control in BC, and today said that effective immediately that non-medical face masks are to be worn in all indoor public spaces.
Even fashion outlets online have sections for a wide variety of face masks to match outfits, and dress-up or dress-down your look. Some have protective pockets for inserting an additional layer of protection. Face masks are here to stay.
“So if I am going to the grocery store, if I am going to the hardware store, the Costco or on public transit or I need to go into renew my drivers licence, those are times we need to wear masks. The expectation is when we go indoors we should all be wearing masks,” said Dr Henry today.
Small gatherings, keep it to household members:
As well, all home gatherings to be household members only plus your safe-six (fewer than that in smaller homes).
She was very clear that there be no adult Halloween parties this week or weekend, and this also led to a comment that gatherings at Remembrance Day must be small, and that Christmas celebrations will need to be household-only and small as well, given how case numbers are going.
“Orders are a last resort,” said Dr Henry today, but said that the new order today about gatherings being limited to a person’s immediate household and their safe-six has become necessary. “We are more at risk where more virus is circulating.” Transmission is being seen within households now. She says enforcement will be applied as required, particularly in the Fraser Health region.
COVID-19 outbreaks:
There is one more outbreak at a school in BC, bringing that to two school outbreaks since students and staff went back to in-class learning in September. The first school (a small school — elementary through secondary — in the Kelowna area) now has 11 cases, up from five before last weekend.
There are four new long-term care outbreaks, bring the total to 21 active outbreaks in long-term care and assisted care. In those facilities, now 967 people have tested positive for COVID-19 (549 residents and 418 staff). Dr Henry has always been careful to articulate these numbers.
Last week two outbreaks in food processing plants were announced. The proximity of people (and perhaps limits to how well air can be circulated) seems to produce outbreaks in these types of facilities (including a few during this past summer).
Preparing for the long haul:
“I know this is hard to hear, but this will be a very challenging and difficult few months,” said Dr Henry regarding getting through the fall and winter. She noted, in particular, that she’s hopeful about a vaccine being available by spring 2021 but that it won’t be available to everyone all at once.
British Columbians have worked hard to flatten the curve twice now, and Dr Henry expressed gratitude for that. But cases are on the rise again. Today Dr Henry even mentioned the possibility of a third wave of the virus after this season (noting that it’s happening elsewhere in the world).
“We’re okay here (in BC) because everyone has done their part,” she said, but adding that everyone needs to “buckle down”, keeping things “small and safe”.
“We need to regroup and focus on our immediate families and support each other to do it safely,” said BC’s Provincial Health Officer who has received nation-wide if not worldwide acclaim for her guidance and direction to the population here during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, BC has one of the lowest case counts and rates of transmission of most jurisdictions in North America.
She urges people to think carefully about travelling. “This virus travels with people. They are bringing the (COVID-19) risk with them,” said Dr Henry in her live media teleconference today.
Vancouver Island – no new cases this past weekend:
As for the continued awareness of Vancouver Islanders that case counts and transmission have been low here throughout the pandemic so far (250 cases all year to date, only 26 people hospitalized, and just six deaths), Dr Henry is not letting her guard down.
Dr Henry — who herself lives in the south Vancouver Island area, called the low number of cases on Vancouver Island “protective” but that it’s “not absolute”. Things can change quickly.
Her overall message today was that no one should stop following the COVID-19 protocols which she calls very basic, including physical distancing, staying home if not well, wearing a face mask, and keeping social bubbles and gatherings small.
COVID-19 across Canada:
By all accounts the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to get worse before they get better. We are in a second wave, and a third wave is already expected. Dovetailing of the flu season (October through March) adds complications to diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, including availability of hospital space.
There have been 9,973 deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada since the start of the pandemic this year (259 of those in BC). The number of test-positive COVID-19 cases to date is 220,213 of which 25,934 are currently active. [Stats/map above to October 26, 2020]
