Tragically, B.C. has hit yet another new record number of deaths. In additon, the new case count remained high, and case numbers increased in other categories.
While there weren’t any new outbreaks, there were three stores and six flights with confirmed cases.
There were a number of updates, including updated physical activity guidelines and data corrections.
Although B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry had announced on November 19 that all spin classes, high intensity interval training (HIIT), and hot yoga had to stop activity, B.C. health officials updated its guidelines for physical activity spaces on November 24, which includes further temporary suspensions.
All dance studios, yoga studios, gymnastics centres, and other spaces with group indoor fitness activity now have to temporarily stop those activities across the province while “new guidance is being developed”.
These activities include gymnastics, dance, martial arts, yoga, pilates, cheerleading, and strength and conditioning.
Venues will have to use the new guidance and post an update COVID-19 safety plan before resuming activity.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that they are seeing a decreases in cases and outbreaks related to parties, wedding, and social events.
An encouraging sign is that she said they haven’t seen any surges linked to Diwali (November 14).
However, she said they are seeing surges in other settings, such as clusters in workplaces.
Henry explained that her mandatory mask order is designed to help staff at locations such as retail shops, and to enable police in taking action to address people responding in belligerent ways, and for “people to know there are consequences from taking unsafe actions”.
She said she has “no time for people who are belligerent and are trying to make some sort of a statement about anti-vaxx and think that this is not a truly challenging pandemic and I have no time for people who believe that wearing a mask somehow makes them ill or is a sign of a lack of freedom,” she said. “To me, it’s about respect for our fellow people who are suffering through this with us and about making sure we’re doing our piece in solidarity to get us through this really challenging time.”
As she said she also wants to protect the people who truly cannot wear a mask to receive the services they need, she wanted to emphasize the need for everyone to demonstrate respect for others.
Unfortunately, there have been some recent examples of those who have no interested in doing so.
Vancouver police shut down a party in Yaletown on November 21, where all of the guests were seated close together and weren’t wearing masks in violation of COVID-19 restrictions for social gatherings. After the party guests ignored health information from Vancouver police, officers issued a $2,300 ticket to the main occupant.
Meanwhile, a West End tenant issued letters to his neighbours in a condo building to inform them that he refuses to wear a mask and will sue anyone who makes him do so.
Henry said there was a technical error in the transfer of data from a lab to the health authority that affected case numbers in Fraser Health from November 17 to 24.
She said the error was detected yesterday and she provided corrected numbers. As well, a chart of corrections was issued.
However, the numbers that Henry read out at the briefing and what appear on the chart appear to be different.
The Georgia Straight has contacted the B.C. Health ministry to clarify the discrepancies.
B.C. Health MinisterProvince of British Columbia
Henry announced that there are 738 new cases today, including four epi-linked cases.
By region, that includes:
443 in Fraser Health;
169 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
70 in Interior Health;
35 in Northern Health;
21 in Island Health;
none among people from outside Canada.
Currently, there are 7,616 active cases, which is an increase of 116 cases.
The number of hospitalizations continue to rise. Ath the moment, there are now 294 people are in hospital (10 more people since yesterday), with 61 patients in intensive care units (same number as yesterday).
Public health is monitoring 10,270 people, which is only 13 more people since yesterday.
Unfortunately, there are 13 new deaths, which is a new record for one day. The last record was 11 deaths on November 17.
The total number of fatalities is now at 371 people have died.
A total of 19,814 people have now recovered
B.C. has recorded a cumulative total of 29,086 cases during the pandemic, which includes:
18,167 cases in Fraser Health;
8,161 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
1,426 in Interior Health;
713 in Northern Health;
526 in Island Health;
93 people from outside Canada.
The good news is that there aren’t any new healthcare outbreaks.
Fraser Health declared the outbreak at Royal Columbian Hospital, which began in a medicine unit, as over.
Active healthcare outbreaks remain at 57 facilities—52 are in longterm care facilities while five are in acute care units.
In addition, there aren’t any new community outbreak and Henry said that the outbreak at MSJ Distribution at Valhalla in Delta has been declared over.
Loblaw reported cases at three of its stores:
two employees who tested positive last worked on November 13 and 16 at Real Canadian Superstore (2855 Gladwin Road,) in Abbotsford;
one employee who tested positive last worked on November 15 at Real Canadian Superstore at 350 Southeast Marine Drive in Vancouver;
an employee who tested positive last worked on November 20 at Shoppers Drug Mart located at 1125 Davie Street in Vancouver.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) added six flights to its lists of domestic and international flights confirmed with COVID-19 cases:
November 16: United Airlines 5312, San Francisco to Vancouver;
November 18: Air Canada/Jazz 8265, Vancouver to Nanaimo;
November 18: United Airlines 5436, San Francisco to Vancouver;
November 21: United Airlines 5312, San Francisco to Vancouver;
November 22, Air Canada 45, Delhi to Vancouver;
November 23: WestJet 3349, Edmonton to Victoria.
For affected row information, visit the BCCDC website.
School exposures
Today, there were 44 schools from three regional health authorities with new exposure dates.
Due to the extensive number of schools with exposures, today’s list was published as a separate article.
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.
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.
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.
