Monday March 16, 2020 ~ VICTORIA, BC
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
There are 103 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in BC it was announced today Monday March 16 by BC Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry in a joint update session today at 3 pm in Victoria with BC Health Minister Adrian Dix. That’s up from 73 on Saturday, 64 on Friday, and 53 on Thursday.
Some of the new cases are here on Vancouver Island.
There have now been four deaths in BC, three of them this past weekend and all of them at the Lynn Valley Care Center in North Vancouver. “We are very very sorry about that,” said Minister Dix.
Five people in BC have fully recovered from COVID-19, reported Dr Henry.
VISITORS FROM USA SHOULD STAY AWAY
Dix specifically asked visitors from the United States to stay away, notably because of very possibly carrying the COVID-19 virus into BC due to significant COVID-19 outbreaks in nearby Washington State. Earlier today the federal government has now disallowed all incoming foreign persons except for those coming from the United States.
Dix gave one example of how visitors might come for a day to visit Stanley Park but then be required to spend 14 days in isolation before returning home. It wasn’t stated as such, but it could be that visitors from outside the country who might fall ill would see health care priority given to Canadian citizens and residents.
Anyone coming into Canada and BC is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Commercial long-haul truckers and airline crews are exempt from the federal border restriction, as the supply chains for food and other essential goods must be allowed to operate without interruption. It was only last week that ‘NAFTA 2.0’ outlining trade between the US, Canada and Mexico was approved by Canada’s House of Commons.
EXPECTING FULL-ON COMMUNITY SPREAD
BC is clearly now expecting fuller community spread of COVID-19, saying that BC health authorities must now move all hospitals to outbreak response. Today Minister Dix declared that all scheduled and elective surgeries are now cancelled, so that beds in hospitals can be freed up for COVID-19 patient care. It may take a few more days or weeks for the tipping point to “hundreds and hundreds” of cases, but that gives the reassigned and reorganized health care system time to reorient and prepare.
There will be significant changes in primary care, said Dix. He announced that pharmacists will now be allowed to refill prescriptions without requiring a physician’s note. “That will save time in doctors’ offices and protect people in the system and ensure doctors can focus on more urgent matters,” said Dix.
LONG TERM CARE CENTERS & SENIORS
BC is also “stepping up protection in long term care homes and protecting seniors as best we can.” said Dr Henry. She outlined how seniors will become less connected. She hopes people will step up and communicate with seniors at home or who are residents of long term care homes. she hopes people will “come together as a community, to connect on a daily basis, with people who are in isolation and who aren’t able to have visitors” using phone, email or digital face-to-face technologies.
SCHOOLS – OPEN or CLOSED AFTER SPRING BREAK
Today there was still no indication of whether or not schools will be closed in BC after March break. And although it sounded as though Dr Henry herself is still leaning toward a ‘wait and see’ approach on that front, she mentioned that the Ministry of Education would probably be making an announcement tomorrow. So far, schools are still returning to class on Monday March 30.
COVID-19 WORLD STATS
As of March 16 World Health Organization (WHO) Report #56 statistics show 167,511 confirmed COVID-19 cases globally (up from 153,517 on March 15, 142,539 on March 14 and 132,758 on March 13), with 86,434 of those cases being outside China which was the original epicentre of the disease (up from 72,469 on March 15, 61,518 on March 14, and 51,767 March 13).
In total as of March 16 there have been 6,606 deaths (up from 5,735 at March 15, 5,393 March 14, and 4,955 deaths March 13) due to COVID-1. Of the March 16 death tally, 3,388 deaths occurred outside of China. The country with the highest spread and death rate right now is Italy, where they lost control of community spread and where there are now not enough ventilators to meet the demand for treating all ailing patients.
After today, WHO says it will no longer feature the ‘total cases’ figure for China separately in their daily statistical reports. That’s because the total number of cases and deaths outside China has overtaken the total
number of cases in China.
===== NEXT BC UPDATE:
The next scheduled BC Health and Public Health Officer joint update to media will be on Monday March 17 out of Victoria.
=== LINKS
Joint Statement by Health Minister Adrian Dix and Pubic Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry on March 14, 2020: total 73 cases in BC, new COVID-19 testing strategy
Pandemic Plan is in place in BC, says Premier (article about 2-hour BC Health media announcement on March 6, 2020)
COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and planning materials: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/pandemic-influenza.
Recommendations on protecting yourself and your community, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-(novel)
For more information and latest updates on COVID-19, follow the BC Centre for Disease Control on Twitter @CDCofBC or visit http://www.bccdc.ca/