VANCOUVER —
B.C.’s public health order severely limiting social interactions has been extended past the holiday season and into early January.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the news at her COVID-19 briefing on Monday, in a move that was widely anticipated given British Columbia’s continuing surge in active cases.
Henry noted that the seven-day average for new coronavirus cases has been “levelling off” in recent days, but said there is still work to be done to bend the province’s curve.
“The measures we have put in place are starting to have an effect and starting to work,” she said. “What you are doing every day is making a difference, but we are not yet through this storm and we cannot let up now. All around us, and in every community, this virus continues to circulate.”
Henry said the restrictions announced on Dec. 4 – which require people to only socialize with members of their own household unless they live alone, in which case they are allowed to create a bubble of up to two people – will continue until midnight on Jan. 8.
The ban on public gatherings and events will remain in place until the same time.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
