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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for Aug. 28, 2021.
Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C.
Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for Aug. 28, 2021.
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.
As of the latest figures given on Aug. 27
• Total number of confirmed cases: 163,560 (5,657 active cases)
• New cases since Aug. 25: 867
• Total deaths: 1,807 (three additional deaths)
• Hospitalized cases: 159 (up 10 since Thursday)
• Intensive care: 84 (up one since Thursday)
• Total vaccinations: 3,886,952 received first dose; 3,514,485 second doses
• Recovered from acute infection: 155,928
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 14
IN-DEPTH:COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus
• 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
• COVID-19: Here’s where to get tested in Metro Vancouver
• B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
People who get the Delta variant of the coronavirus are twice as likely to be hospitalized as those who were infected by the Alpha variant which was first detected in England last year, a study showed on Friday.
The study, based on more than 43,000 COVID-19 cases of mostly unvaccinated people in England, compared the risk of hospitalization for people infected with Delta, which was first detected in India, with people who caught Alpha.
“Our analysis highlights that in the absence of vaccination, any Delta outbreaks will impose a greater burden on health care than an Alpha epidemic,” Anne Presanis, one of the study’s lead authors and a University of Cambridge statistician, said.
The study was based on cases between March and May during the early stages of Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, so it was not able to assess the extra risk of hospital admission for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.
The study, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, was the largest so far to analyze COVID-19 cases confirmed by virus genome sequencing.
-Reuters
Premier John Horgan has told B.C. businesses to call the police if they face abuse from unvaccinated people trying to enter their establishments without B.C.’s vaccine card.
Horgan made the remarks at a news conference at Logan Lake on Friday afternoon.
“With respect to enforcement, it’s not unlike with respect to nightclubs or in the hospitality sector. Iif they have trouble with patrons, they call law enforcement and that’s what I would expect to happen,” said the premier.
Starting Sept. 13, proof of one vaccination will be required to enter restaurants, bars, nightclubs, casinos, sporting events, gyms and theatres. As of Oct. 24, proof of two vaccinations will be needed.
Horgan made his comments as the Health Ministry announced a significant jump in the number of new COVID-19 cases, 867 news cases, up from the 724 reported on Thursday.
The premier brushed off an unconfirmed report that someone in Nanaimo is already selling fake vaccination cards.
-Lisa Cordasco
The trend for COVID-19 infections in British Columbia continues upward with 867 new cases, the highest daily total in about four months.
Three more people have died, while 159 people are in hospital and 84 of those are in intensive care.
There are 5,657 active cases in the province and nearly 39 per cent of those are in the Interior Health region, where tougher restrictions were put in place this month.
Interior Health reported the most new cases with 350, followed by Fraser Health with 228 new cases, Vancouver Coastal Health with 165 new cases and Island Health and Northern Health with 63 and 61 new cases, respectively.
-The Canadian Press
B.C. colleges will not be joining universities in requiring students, staff and visitors to disclose their vaccine status or undergo rapid testing for the COVID-19 virus because they say they are legally not allowed to do so.
A statement from B.C. colleges on Friday afternoon said provincial law prevents them from implementing the additional safety measures similar to those taken by universities.
“Colleges operate differently from universities,” the statement said, “as they are considered agents of government under the College and Institute Act, and have determined they must follow the direction of the provincial health officer.” It said it would enforce orders issued by Dr. Bonnie Henry.
On Tuesday, Henry ordered that students who live on campus must be vaccinated and all students will need to comply with province-wide health orders to wear masks at all public indoor spaces immediately, and show proof of vaccination to enter non-essential services starting Sept 13.
The president of the faculty association at Vancouver Community College, Taryn Thomson, said college instructors are disappointed by the decision to forgo additional measures.
“The government is unnecessarily causing chaos by making different rules for different people in the same sector,” said Thomson. “The students in college nursing programs are required to be vaccinated, but other students at the college are not. The vaccine card means students will have to show proof of vaccination at some services on campus, but not in classrooms. It’s incredibly confusing.”
— Lisa Cordasco and Tiffany Crawford
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:
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
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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