COVID-19 update for July 5: Canada getting 3.7 million doses of vaccine this week | B.C. teachers report mental decline during pandemic – Vancouver Sun

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for July 5, 2021.

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We’ll provide summaries of what’s going on in B.C. right here so you can get the latest news at a glance. This page will be updated regularly throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.

Check back here for more updates throughout the day. You can also get the latest COVID-19 news delivered to your inbox weeknights at 7 p.m. by subscribing to our newsletter here.

B.C.’S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

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IN-DEPTH:COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus

B.C. GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: Here’s everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus

• COVID-19: Here’s how to get your vaccination shot in B.C.

• COVID-19: Look up your neighbourhood in our interactive map of case and vaccination rates in B.C.

• COVID-19: Afraid of needles? Here’s how to overcome your fear and get vaccinated

• COVID-19: Five things to know about the P1 variant spreading in B.C.

• COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus in 2021

• COVID-19: Have you been exposed? Here are all B.C. public health alerts

• COVID-19 at B.C. schools: Here are the school district exposure alerts

• COVID-19: Avoid these hand sanitizers that are recalled in Canada

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• COVID-19: Here’s where to get tested in Metro Vancouver

• B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

LATEST NEWS on COVID-19 in B.C.

3 p.m. – Health officials are set to share latest figures on COVID-19 in B.C.

B.C. health officials are expected to update the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries across the province.

9:45 a.m. – Three B.C. flights flagged for COVID-19 exposure

The B.C. Centre of Disease Control has listed three more recent flights that have been flagged for potential COVID-19 exposure.

The affected flights were:

Those who were on board a domestic flight with a confirmed case are not required to self-isolate but must monitor closely for possible symptoms.

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For row information, visit the BCCDC’s full listing of all exposure flights here.

6:30 a.m. – Canada to receive 3.7 million more COVID-19 doses this week

The federal government is expecting to receive 3.7 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines this week, bringing the total of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries above 53.7 million doses.

The new deliveries will include about 900,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 2.8 million doses of Moderna vaccine.

Those shipments will push Canada’s total vaccine deliveries above 53.7 million doses, enough to administer two shots to more than 75 per cent of eligible residents.

With 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines expected to arrive in Canada in July, the country will have enough doses to fully vaccinate all 33.2 million Canadians over the age of 12.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the ranks of the fully vaccinated on Friday. He received a shot of the Moderna vaccine at an Ottawa clinic. His wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, got her second dose on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after getting his shot, Trudeau said he feels “safer and quite optimistic about the summer.”

He said close to 80 per cent of eligible Canadians have already received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 35 per cent have received two doses.

Trudeau said more than 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Canada and the government expects to receive a total of 68 million by the end of the month.

“We are well on the way to a good summer and an even better fall,” he said.

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“That said, we are not out of the woods yet.”

– The Canadian Press

6:30 a.m. – Johnson tells Britons to use judgment when COVID restrictions lift

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging Britons to “exercise judgment” to protect themselves from COVID-19 as the government prepares for the final unlocking of the economy in two weeks.

The prime minister will use a press conference on Monday to say that the country must learn to live with the disease, as it does with influenza. He is expected to confirm that people will no longer be forced to wear facial coverings as he sets out the final stage of his roadmap out of lockdown for England ahead of a formal announcement next week.

The move marks a decisive shift toward handing responsibility to citizens to manage the risks after 16 months of unprecedented government intervention to bring the virus under control. However, it risks sparking a backlash from scientists who say removing virtually all restrictions when millions of people are not fully immunized could prove devastating.

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The U.K. is in a race to vaccinate the population against the fast-spreading delta variant quickly enough to be able to lift social-distancing curbs and reopen more businesses on July 19. Almost 64 per cent of U.K. adults have now had two doses of a vaccine.

Ministers are optimistic, noting that a recent surge in infections to their highest level since January has not led to commensurately more hospitalizations and deaths. On Sunday, the U.K. reported 24,248 more Covid-19 cases and 15 more deaths.

– Bloomberg

SUNDAY

2:45 p.m. – Four of five B.C. teachers report declining mental health during pandemic

With a trying school year having wrapped up, four in five B.C. teachers who volunteered for a survey say their mental health declined during the pandemic, according to a UBC study.

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“The pandemic-related school disruptions and the need to adapt to new regulations and guidelines are unprecedented,” the study stated.

One elementary school teacher with 10 years experience said they had never felt so “discouraged, unappreciated and deflated, while at the same time burned out.”

“Our goal was to understand how B.C. teachers were doing during the pandemic and the potential impact the pandemic may have had on their mental health, but also on their teaching experiences,” said lead author Anne Gadermann, an assistant professor at UBC’s school of population and public health.

The study, carried out in conjunction with the B.C. Teachers Federation and the B.C. Ministry of Education, canvassed 1,206 teachers around the province in February, surveying their teaching experience and well-being after 11 months of COVID-19 restrictions.

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— Gordon McIntyre

1:15 p.m. – Vaccine uptake needed to reopen border will be tough to meet: economist

he federal government wants to see 75 per cent of Canada’s population immunized against COVID-19 with two doses before lifting international travel restrictions and opening the border.

It’s a threshold that will be tough to meet, particularly in Alberta, where nearly a quarter of people eligible for a shot still haven’t received a dose, said University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.

Having 75 per cent of Canadians fully immunized means 86 per cent of those aged 12 and over who are eligible for a shot will need to get their jabs, Tombe said.

“Eighty-six per cent of eligible individuals is perhaps at the higher end of what polls suggest is possible,” Tombe said.

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“It’s going to take a little bit more work to change some views that are out there … It’s certainly possible, but it’s going to be a heavy lift for governments.”

The federal government has discussed a 75 per cent threshold in recent months, but formalized it in mid-June.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it recognizes mandatory quarantine and testing protocols “place significant burdens” on Canadians and the country’s economy, but that these measures remain the most effective way to prevent new cases and variants of concern from entering the country.

– Calgary Herald

12:45 p.m. – Fraser Health walk-in appointment for first dose at all clinics

Fraser Health is welcoming walk-in appointments at any of their COVID-19 vaccination clinics to anyone 12 years and older needing first-dose immunizations

“All Fraser Health residents are welcome, including those without personal health numbers, vulnerable people and/or people who are not residents of B.C.,” the health authority said in a statement.

A list of the ongoing clinics is available at fraserhealth.ca.

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B.C. MAP OF WEEKLY COVID CASE COUNTS, VACCINATION RATES

Find out how your neighbourhood is doing in the battle against COVID-19 with the latest number of new cases, positivity rates, and vaccination rates:

B.C. VACCINE TRACKER

LOCAL RESOURCES for COVID-19 information

Here are a number of information and landing pages for COVID-19 from various health and government agencies.

• B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

• Vancouver Coastal Health – Information on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

• HealthLink B.C. – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page

• B.C. Centre for Disease Control – Novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

• Government of Canada – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update

• World Health Organization – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak

–with files from The Canadian Press