Thursday April 16, 2020 ~ BC
by Mary Brooke, B.Sc. ~ West Shore Voice News
The COVID-19 situation in British Columbia is continually evolving, through phases that have included getting to know more about the novel coronavirus spreads, where outbreaks were occuring and working to contain those, dealing with external threat factors such as incoming cases from returning travelers, attending to inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE), and of course maintaining a steady regimen of public health advisory to educate and motivate the population about the necessary measures to help ward off major community spread (such as frequent and diligent hand washing, physical distancing, self-isolation, and going out for errands as little as possible and then so wearing a mask).
Yesterday, Premier John Horgan extended BC’s State of Emergency for another two weeks to April 28, 2020. “We are starting to see the results of our sacrifice, dedication and hard work, and we must continue to be steadfast in our commitment to keep our communities safe,” he told media.
The State of Emergency is about “ensuring that all British Columbians stay the course, protecting ourselves, families, communities from this scourge of a virus and a pandemic that is seizing the entire world,” the Premier said at the opening of his media event on April 15.
And yesterday Health Minister Adrian Dix reported that 4,703 beds are available in acute care, as a way of showing British Columbians that BC Health is taking pandemic seriously, and planning for the possibility of a worst case scenario. That number of empty beds currently produces an occupancy level of 58.1%, and an occupancy rate of 45.7% for critical care and ICU beds. In other words, if there is a sudden strong surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, the system has the capacity to handle it.
Part of making that many empty beds available for a possible COVID-19 upsurge saw the cancellation of 13,938 surgeries, said Minister Dix, calling that “a very significant thing”. He said that since the cancellation of scheduled elective surgeries on March 16, still 8,221 essential surgeries have been completed in BC hospitals during the past four weeks.
The calculation of acute medical and surgical inpatient bed capacity does not include maternity, pediatrics, mental health, rehab or palliative care beds.
As of 4 pm today April 16, the total confirmed cases in BC today is 1,575 which is an increase of 14 cases since yesterday. In hospital are 120 people with COVID-19, of which 56 are in intensive care.
Older persons and infection in long-term care
So far in BC, 78 people have died from COVID-19 infection. The majority of those deaths have occurred in people over age 60, and many of them had been residents of long-term care or assisted-living facilities.
Yesterday Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry said that there are protocols for physical distancing and other measures in long-term care homes around infectious disease. However, the close proximity of beds and workers around patients in those sorts of facilities seems to serve to incubate infection after one case arrives within the walls of a facility.
When asked whether BC would move several residents out of an affected long-term care home to improve on physical distancing, the response from Dr Henry was that “protocols are in place”. The day before, she told media that elderly people in care homes who come down with COVID-19 are offered the option to be relocated to hospital, but that not all of them accept that course of action (sometimes having to do with living wills and other end of life documents).
In BC, a total of 26 long-term care and assisted-living homes have been affected. One person who was in long-term care has relocated to acute care.
Case distribution across the five health authorities in BC:
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 670
- Fraser Health: 630
- Island Health: 94
- Interior Health: 149
- Northern Health: 32
Recoveries and Testing:
In total, 983 people who previously tested positive have recovered from COVID-19.
It should be noted that the number of cases are a result of testing. Many more people in the population very likely have contracted the COVID-19 viral infection, but either their symptoms were mild or they were entirely asymptomatic.
People who have been tested and who have recovered are a prime source for potential participation in providing plasma samples (to help scientists look for and examine antibodies) and perhaps to take part in other followup studies toward the public health goal of developing a vaccine.
Daily BC Updates about COVID-19:
Since late February there have been daily briefings from BC Health Minister Adrian Dix and/or Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry about the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in BC. Over more than 50 briefings now, there have been orders put in place by Dr Henry, and many strategies explained by Minister Dix.
Today April 16 was the first day that only a written statement was issued, but that’s because Dix and Dr Henry and their teams are preparing a second in-depth session about how COVID-19 outcomes are being modelled by public health in BC.
The Friday April 17 rollout of COVID-19 data updates will start with a technical briefing for media at 9:15 am with details about data modelling (the second such session — the first and previous one being on March 27), followed by the usual style of public media availability on the BC Government’s Facebook page at 11 am.
On Saturday April 18 that day’s COVID-19 briefing will be at 12 noon on the BC Government’s Facebook page.
Most of the public briefings last up to an hour, attracting an online audience around 2,500 to 3,000 viewers. In addition to media, various stakeholders in health and governance also dial in to listen.
========= LINKS:
New provincial advice and measures are stated on April 16, 2020 by BC Health as:
* A new B.C. Business COVID-19 Support Service will serve as a single point of contact for businesses throughout the province looking for information on resources available during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020JEDC0008-000700
* The Province is providing enhanced relief for businesses by reducing most commercial property tax bills by an average of 25%, along with new measures to support local governments facing temporary revenue shortfalls as a result of COVID-19: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020FIN0020-000703
* The Government of British Columbia has launched Here2Talk, a new mental-health counselling and referral service for post-secondary students: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020AEST0024-000698
* ICBC takes further steps to reduce financial burden for drivers during pandemic: https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom/Pages/2020-apr16.aspx
New federal measures:
* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces additional support for small businesses: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/04/16/prime-minister-announces-additional-support-small-businesses
* COVID-19 guidance for high-risk and essential workplaces from Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: https://www.canada.ca/en/centre-occupational-health-safety/news/2020/04/covid-19-guidance-for-high-risk-and-essential-workplaces.html
* COVID-19 related death of an inmate from Correctional Service Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/news/2020/04/covid-19-related-death-of-an-inmate.html
* Statement by Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, on the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations (Prevention of Diseases) coming into effect: https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-services-canada/news/2020/04/statement-by-the-minister-of-indigenous-services-on-the-first-nations-election-cancellation-and-postponement-regulations-prevention-of-diseases-com.html
* Joint statement of the Alliance for Multilateralism from Global Affairs Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2020/04/joint-statement-of-the-alliance-for-multilateralism.html