B.C. deputy health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson, who was filling in for Dr. Bonnie Henry at today B.C. COVID-19 update, and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix expressed concern about the extremely high case numbers that were registered over the past weekend.
However, these new cases aren’t linked to events that occured over the Halloween weekend—which included a mass congregation of people in the Downtown Vancouver core, fights, stabbings, and fires—as symptoms take up to 14 days to manifest.
“All of us could see what was going on on Granville Street,” Dix said of the large gathering of partiers on Halloween night. “It was on TV. It was on social media, and I can imagine the frustration of the millions of British Columbians who are following the rules.”
Dix also pointed out that these types of visible public events tend to gain a lot of attention, such as previous gatherings at English Bay did.
However, what people aren’t seeing on social media or on the news are the private parties that have been held at homes which been a major concern and have been contributing to the increases in cases.
Gustafson, who added that we are now entering the 11th month of the pandemic, pointed out that as the weather has become colder and people have moved indoors, “we are going to see fluctuations and surges in some communities”.
She explained that transmissions have tended to occur at large gatherings at peoples’ private homes where there isn’t a safety plan in place, rather than restaurants or venues that have safety protocols in place.
For those who have to have a social gathering or event, Gustafson recommended holding it at a restaurant or venue that has an established safety plan.
“So many places in British Columbia have learned how to operate safely,” she said.
When it comes to workplace transmission, she said they are mostly seeing transmission among social networks gathering outside of the workplace.
With regards to the recent provincial election, Gustafson said they review all types of places where transmission is occurring but there haven’t been any transmission traced to polling stations.
Meanwhile, there were 14 schools with new exposure dates (all in Fraser Health), and seven flights and six stores with confirmed cases.
New case counts were significantly higher than previous weeks, and all of the new case counts over the past three consecutive days have each exceeded 300 cases.
Gustafson said at today’s briefing that B.C. had a total of 1,120 new cases over the three days over the past weekend, including:
• October 30 to 31: 352 new cases;
• October 31 to November 1: 389 new cases, which is a new record high;
• November 1 to 2: 379 new cases.
By region, that includes:
830 cases in Fraser Health;
234 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
36 in Interior Health;
10 in Northern Health;
nine in Island Health;
90 people from outside Canada.
Currently, there are 2,945 active cases—an increase of 555 cases over the span of the three time periods since October 30.
At the moment, 90 people are in hospital (an increase of 12 people since October 30), with 19 of those patients in intensive care units (six less people than October 30).
Public health is monitoring 6,448 people for exposure to confirmed cases, which is 445 more people than October 39.
There are three new healthcare outbreaks:
Hamilton Village Care Centre (23111 Garripie Avenue) in Richmond, where Vancouver Coastal Health stated that it imposed restrictions on the first floor on October 29;
Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre (9341 Burns Drive) in Delta, which had one staff member test positive;
Rotary Manor (1121 90th Avenue) in Dawson Creek, which had one staff member test positive and Northern Health stated that the last exposure date was on October 25.
Fraser Health declared the outbreak at Baillie House (11762 Laity Street) in Maple Ridge as over on November 1.
Active outbreaks are currently at 28 healthcare outbreaks—26 in longterm care facilities and two acute care units.
There aren’t any new community outbreaks.
In addition, Fraser Health declared the community outbreaks at Valhalla Distribution/MSJ Distribution (7848 Hoskins Street) in Delta and J&L Beef Ltd. (17565 65A Avenue) in Surrey as both being over as of October 31.
Tragically, there have been six deaths (five in Vancouver Coastal Health and one in Fraser Health), for a total of 269 deaths in B.C. during the pandemic.
During the pandemic, a cumulative total of 15,501 cases have been confirmed in B.C., including:
• 9,049 in Fraser Health;
• 4,898 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 777 in Interior Health;
• 422 in Northern Health;
• 265 in Island Health;
• 90 people from outside Canada.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian DixProvince of British Columbia
Six grocery stores and pharmacies have reported having staff members who tested positive.
Sobeys announced that an employee at Thrifty Foods (102–15745 Croydon Drive) in Surrey, who last worked at the location on October 26, has tested positive.
Loblaw has announced each of the following stores had one employee who tested positive:
Real Canadian Superstore (2332 160th Street) in Surrey, with the last exposure date on October 19;
Shoppers Drug Mart (8180 No. 2 Road) in Richmond, with the last exposure date on October 23;
Loblaws City Market (1650 Lonsdale Avenue) in North Vancouver, with the last exposure date on October 24;
Real Canadian Superstore (8195 Scott Road) in Delta, with the last exposure date on October 25;
Shoppers Drug Mart (4295 Blackcomb Way) in Whistler, with the last exposure date on October 28.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added the following seven flights confirmed with COVID-19 to its list (with affected row information available on its website):
• October 18: Flair 8186, Edmonton to Prince George;
• October 19: United Airlines 466, Denver to Vancouver;
• October 21: Air Canada 103, Toronto to Vancouver;
• October 23: Air Canada 127, Toronto to Vancouver;
• October 23: WestJet 725, Toronto to Vancouver;
• October 28: WestJet 725, Toronto to Vancouver;
• October 30: WestJet 183, Calgary to Kelowna.
Anyone in the affected rows or on these flights should watch for symptoms for 14 days and immediately self-isolate if symptoms develop while contacting 811 or your local healthcare provider for testing information.
École Westwood Elementary
Fraser Health—the only regional health authority to report new exposure incidents at school—added 14 schools with new exposure dates.
In Abbotsford, Abbotsford Dasmesh Punjabi (5930 Riverside Street) had an exposure event from October 20 to 21
In Coquitlam, Mundy Elementary (2200 Austin Avenue), which previously had an exposure incident on October 6, has had another exposure event from October 20 to 22
In Port Coquitlam, École Westwood Elementary (3610 Hastings Street) had exposures from October 19 to 22 and 26.
In Langley, two schools had new exposure dates:
Langley Fundamental Elementary (21789 50th Avenue) had an exposure incident on October 22;
Global Montessori School (19785 55A Avenue), which previously had exposure events from October 19 to 22, had added October 23 and 26 as additional dates.
In Surrey, there were nine schools with new dates, including:
• Cloverdale Catholic School (17511 59th Avenue) had an exposure event from October 21 to 22;
• Dr. F.D. Sinclair Elementary (7480 128th Street), which had a previous exposure event from October 5 to 6, has had another exposure event from October 20 to 22;
• École Panorama Ridge Secondary (13220 64th Avenue)—which previously had exposures on September 8 and 10; from September 30 to October 1; from October 6 to 9; from October 13 to 15; and from October 19 to 20—has had more exposures from October 21 to 22;
• Enver Creek Secondary (14505 84th Avenue), which previously had exposures on October 9 and October 14, had a new exposure on October 26;
• Fleetwood Park Secondary (7940 156th Street), which previously had an exposure incident on October 1, has had an exposure event from October 20 to 21;
• Sikh Academy—Newton (12895 85th Avenue), which had a previous exposure on October 14, has additional exposure dates from October 19 to 22 and 26;
• Sullivan Heights Secondary (6248 144th Street)—which had previous incidents on September 8; from September 30 to October 1; from October 13 to 15 and 19; and from October 20 to 22—has added October 30 to its exposure dates;
• Sunrise Ridge Elementary (18690 60th Avenue) had an exposure on October 21;
• Surrey Centre Elementary (16670 Old McLellan Road) had an exposure on October 22.
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.
