Today, active cases decreased while hospitalized cases increased—the opposite of what happened over the weekend.
Active cases decreased in Fraser Health and Northern Health while increasing in Vancouver Coastal Health, Interior Health and Island Health—also the inverse of the weekend.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix held an in-person briefing today (September 28) to provide updates about several issues, including booster shots for seniors, cases among children and youth, and new health orders due to rising case numbers in Fraser Health.
Despite vaccinations of residents in all longterm care facilities in the province, outbreaks and deaths have continued to occur in those healthcare settings.
That’s because, as Henry has explained at previous briefings, older people can have lower immune system responses to vaccinations compared to those who are younger.
Today, she said that a “significant number” of longterm care residents are continuing to have “breakthrough infections” (COVID-19 cases among those who are vaccinated), which she added can be lethal in an elderly population.
Accordingly, Henry announced today that residents in longterm care facilities will also now receive a third dose.
She said that these doses will begin being administered next week, and will be given in addition to the influenza vaccine.
Previously, Henry had announced that “clinically extremely vulnerable individuals with certain immune compromising conditions” will receive a third dose, and those immunizations are now underway.
Henry said that there has been an increase in child cases in the past week compared to what has been observed over the course of the pandemic.
She stated that the numbers of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population are increasing “quite dramatically” among younger school-aged children who aren’t vaccinated, including those who are 5 to 11 years old. She said there were increases in cases among those 12 to 17 years old but that has leveled off.
As she has explained in the past, what is happening in schools reflects what is occurring in communities.
Henry said that the most of the school-aged children who are testing positive are in the Fraser East region, which is an area of Fraser Health that has the lowest rates of immunization and where cases are rising among adults, as well as one part of Island Health.
In addition, she pointed out that parts of the B.C. Interior with lower immunization rates are where children are being affected.
Meanwhile, she said that Vancouver Coastal Health and most of Island Health have had low cases rates among children, where there are high vaccination rates.
Thus far during the pandemic, there have only been two deaths among children: an infant and toddler in the 0 to 4 age group, who both died last year. There haven’t been any deaths among school-aged children.
She said that they aren’t seeing any increases in hospitalizations or deaths among children—but she added “we need to make sure that doesn’t happen”.
Accordingly, she emphasized the need for vaccinations among all those who are eligible to do so, in order to prevent transmission to children.
As of today, regional health authorities will begin posting potential exposure events at schools on their websites, as was done last year.
What will be different this year is that the health authorities won’t be sending out letters to all schools if there is a potential exposure event, which she said was not effective in decreasing transmission in schools.
Previously, the Central Okanagan and Northern B.C. were identified as hotspots of concern where cases were rapidly rising.
Now a new region has been identified, and new health measures are being introduced there.
Due to an increase in cases in the Eastern Fraser Valley, Henry announced a new regional public health order for the area, effective today, and includes Hope, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, and Aggasiz-Harrison.
The new health measures include:
private gatherings are now limited to five additional people or one additional household;
a maximum of 10 people outdoors unless all participants are fully vaccinated;
organized events limited to 10 people inside or 50 people outside, unless all participants are vaccinated;
all outdoor adult sports will be limited to 50 participants, unless all are vaccinated.
Consequently, the B.C. Vaccine Card requirement for two doses by October 26 has been advanced to today in the Fraser East region.
Also, all event organizers must keep a contact list of guests.
Henry added that as increased transmission has been occurring in workplaces in the region, masks must be worn in all indoor workplaces and the need for safety plans will be emphasized.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian DixProvince of British Columbia
As on previous days, the B.C. Health Ministry stated that today’s numbers of total and new cases are provisional due to a delayed data refresh.
Today, the B.C. Health Ministry is reporting 652 new COVID-19 cases.
Currently, there are 5,992 active cases, which is a drop of 106 cases since yesterday.
The new and active cases include:
219 new cases in Fraser Health, with 2,249 total active cases (31 fewer cases than yesterday);
162 new cases in Interior Health, with 1,176 total active cases (17 more cases than yesterday);
117 new cases in Northern Health, with 929 total active cases (235 fewer cases);
82 new cases in Island Health, with 677 total active cases (20 more cases);
70 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, with 903 total active cases (60 more cases);
two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada, with 58 total active cases (two more cases).
With 13 more cases than yesterday, there are 316 individuals in hospital today, and 141 of those patients are in intensive care units (one fewer than yesterday—yesterday’s ICU number was updated to 142).
Sadly, two new deaths (both in Island Health) have been reported, which brings the overall total fatalities to 1,942 people who have died of COVID-19-related reasons.
With 759 recoveries since yesterday, an overall total of 177,113 people who tested positive have recovered.
B.C. has reported a cumulative total of 185,432 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.
Since December, B.C. has administered 7,812,228 doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines.
As of today, 87.8 percent (4,068,060) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 80.6 percent (3,736,540) have received their second dose.
In addition, 88.3 percent (3,818,166) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 81.4 percent (3,521,271) have received their second dose.
According to the B.C. Health Ministry, people not vaccinated are 26.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated (after factoring for age).
From September 20 to 26, people who aren’t fully vaccinated accounted for 72.2 percent of COVID-19 cases. From September 13 to 26, they accounted for 82.5 percent of hospitalizations.
Fraser Health declared an outbreak at Willingdon Care Centre in Burnaby, where one resident has tested positive.
Northern Health declared an outbreak at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, where four patients have tested positive.
The B.C. Health Ministry also stated that an outbreak has been declared at Village by the Station and the outbreak at Fort St. John Hospital has been declared over.
Currently, there are 22 active outbreaks in healthcare facilities.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added the following 19 flights to its lists of potential public exposures:
September 1: WestJet 3294, Kelowna to Calgary;
September 15: WestJet 718, Vancouver to Toronto;
September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8218, Vancouver to Cranbrook;
September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8219, Cranbrook to Vancouver;
September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8408, Vancouver to Kelowna;
September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8415, Kelowna to Vancouver;
September 20: Air Canada 251, Edmonton to Vancouver;
September 20: Air Canada 1055, Phoenix to Vancouver;
September 20: Air Canada 8293, Castlegar to Vancouver;
September 20: WestJet 689, Saskatoon to Vancouver;
September 22: Air Canada 245, Edmonton to Vancouver;
September 22: Air Canada/Jazz 8234, Vancouver to Terrace;
September 22: WestJet 175, Edmonton to Vancouver;
September 22: WestJet 3153, Calgary to Nanaimo;
September 23: Air Canada 997, Mexico City to Vancouver;
September 23: Flair Air 153, Toronto to Abbotsford;
September 23: WestJet 615, Ottawa to Vancouver;
September 23: WestJet 1697, Los Angeles to Vancouver;
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.
