Sunday August 23, 2020 ~ LANGFORD, BC [Updated August 24, 2020]
by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
The City of Langford was one of the first (and only) municipalities to try and provide direct physical distancing and handwashing messaging to their community, early in the pandemic.
There have been only 160 cases of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island, and presently only nine cases are active. One new case was in the BC Centre for Disease Control stats on Friday August 21.
One of the new cases announced on Friday in the 20 to 29 year age grouping turns out was at Chatters Hair Salon at the Westshore Town Centre at #406-2945 Jacklin Rd, in Langford.
The salon said on local TV that they will be doing a thorough cleaning this weekend, and reopen on Monday August 24.
Chatters is a national chain:
Chatters calls themselves a salon industry leader. There are 115 Chatters locations nationwide. Their head office is in Alberta.
Island Social Trends contacted Chatters head office and the local store management for an interview; we have yet to hear back.
Revealing the location of active cases:
People like to have information about the virus in order to feel safe, said Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry in her widely published April 6, 2020 opinion-editorial.
While it could be said that people might panic or overreact upon learning the location of a specific case of COVID-19 (and Dr Henry expressed concern about stigmatization), it could also be said that people will take better case to socially distance and wear a mask in local retail and community when they hear the location of a specific case.
Many youth not hearing the message:
Generally speaking, youth in BC have shown some disregard for the messaging about maintain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be, of course, in part to the general always-attitude of invincibility among youth but also in part to the public health messaging being focussed on protecting others especially elders.
There have been five deaths from COVID-19 on Vancouver Island.
The age distribution of COVID-19 cases on Vancouver Island:
These are the COVID case-counts to August 21, 2020 for Vancouver Island (source: BC Centre for Disease Control):
- Under age 10 years: 1
- 10-19 years: 9
- 20-29 years: 23
- 30-39 years: 31
- 40-49 years: 22
- 50-59 years: 24
- 60-69 years: 18
- 70-79 years: 23
- 80-89 years: 8
- 90+ years: 1
