Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for Nov. 24, 2020.

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.

B.C.’S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

As of the latest figures given on Nov. 23:
• Total number of confirmed cases: 27,407 (10,200 active)
• New cases since Nov. 20: 1,933
• Hospitalized cases: 277
• Intensive care: 59
• COVID-19 related deaths: 348 (17 new)
• Cases under public health monitoring: 10,200
• Recovered: 19,069
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 66

IN-DEPTH: COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus

LATEST NEWS on COVID-19 in B.C.

3 p.m. – Health officials are set to share latest figures on COVID-19 in B.C.

Health officials are expected to update the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries across the province.

1:45 p.m. – Lack of Canadian vaccine production means others could get inoculations first: PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to reassure Canadians on Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines will start to arrive in the coming months even as he acknowledged that other nations are likely to start inoculating their citizens first.

“One of the things to remember is Canada no longer has any domestic production capacity for vaccines,” Trudeau said during his regular COVID-19 news conference outside his home in Ottawa.

“We used to have it decades ago, but we no longer have it. Countries like the United States, Germany and the U.K. do have domestic pharmaceutical facilities, which is why they’re obviously going to prioritize helping their citizens first.”

At the same time, Trudeau underscored the importance of getting inoculations to Canadians.

“We know we’re not going to get through this pandemic without a vaccine,” he said.

1 p.m. – Teachers union asks parents to encourage students to wear masks

The president of the B.C. Teachers Federation has written an open letter to parents, asking them to encourage their children to wear masks in school.

Although masks are not mandatory in school, Terri Mooring says the BCTF wants parents to help “support a culture of mask wearing.”

“The school community has come together and made mask wearing normal and expected. It really helps everyone in our schools feel safer. We need to be doing all we can to ensure we keep each other safe. No one wants to bring COVID-19 home to their families,” said Mooring, who conceded that there are some staff and students who, for various reasons, can’t wear masks and some learning situations where masks are inappropriate.

“By talking to your children about wearing their masks in school, you can help us create that respectful culture of mask wearing.”

11:30 a.m. – Federal government buys drug developed in Vancouver to treat COVID-19 patients

The federal government has agreed to buy an antibody drug developed by a Vancouver company to treat COVID-19 patients.

The use of bamlanivimab, developed by Vancouver’s AbCellera Biologics in partnership with U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, was approved by Health Canada earlier this week.

The government will buy 26,000 doses of the drug over a three-month period from December to February for $32.5 million US, according to a news release from Eli Lilly Tuesday.

The company says additional doses will be supplied to Canada on a monthly basis according to the country’s medical need.

Bamlanivimab is designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells, neutralizing the virus and potentially treating COVID-19, according to the company.

AbCellera founder and chief executive Carl Hansen said Health Canada had granted authorization for the use of bamlanivimab to treat people over the age of 12 with mild and moderate COVID-19 symptoms who were at high risk of the disease progressing.

11 a.m. – McDonald’s in Coquitlam reopens

A McDonald’s restaurant in Coquitlam, which closed Monday after an employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, has reopened.

McDonald’s says it learned an employee from the 2725 Barnet Highway location had COVID-19 on Monday.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to shut down the restaurants for a thorough cleaning and sanitization by a certified third party,” McDonald’s said, in a news release Tuesday.

McDonald’s says all staff who may have been in close contact with the employee have been asked to self-isolate.

A Vancouver McDonlad’s located at 3695 Lougheed Highway closed late last month after a staffer tested positive for the virus. That restaurant has also since reopened.

6 a.m. – With the pandemic keeping people home for the holidays, more residents turning to elaborate lighting displays: report

With the gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic hanging over the holidays this year, it seems more British Columbians are turning to elaborate lights and displays to lift their spirits.

A BC Hydro report Tuesday titled “Home for the holidays: British Columbians are brightening up the holidays with bigger, more elaborate lighting displays,” finds 90 per cent of British Columbians say they are planning more elaborate lighting displays at home.

The survey found about 20 per cent of respondents are planning to add more indoor and outdoor decorations.

And, in a nod to the classic film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase, BC Hydro says there are expected to be more ‘Clark Griswold-style’ mega displays than in other years. The poll found nearly 10 per cent they are going to put up more than 10 strands of lights.

BC Hydro data shows these elaborate displays account for about three per cent of provincial electricity use, but that number is expected to rise this year.

Some of the poll’s other findings include about 22 per cent plan to put up eight strands of lights on average, up nearly 10 per cent since 2018, according to BC Hydro.

Fifteen per cent of holiday decorators plan to put up three or more displays, while about five per cent plan to put up between six and 15.

BC Hydro says there are concerns for energy use during this time, especially since 25 per cent say they still use some incandescent lights to decorate. The older bulbs are up to 90 per cent less energy efficient than LEDs, according to BC Hydro.

5 a.m. – Poll finds many Canadians gaining weight during pandemic

A new poll suggests many Canadians are gaining weight because they’re eating more and exercising less during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly one-third of respondents in the survey conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies said they have put on weight since March, compared to 15 per cent who said they lost
weight over that time.

As well, about one-third of respondents said they’re exercising less, while 16 per cent said they’re working out more since the first wave of the pandemic landed in Canada in the spring.

Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, suggested that one reason may be a rush for comfort food to deal with pandemic-related anxieties.

Respondents in the survey who said they were “very afraid” of COVID-19 were more likely to report gaining weight, eating more and exercising less.

The online survey of 1,516 Canadians was conducted Oct. 29-31 and cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, said there are plausible reasons to connect weight gain or loss with the pandemic, but he hadn’t seen any studies to convince him that’s the case.

Jedwab said the country needs to also be mindful of mental health issues that can affect the physical health of Canadians.

“With the winter coming, it’ll be even more challenging, in some parts of the country, to maintain a healthy lifestyle in terms of walking, in terms of doing basic things that will help us address our anxieties,” he said, pointing to lack of access for some to gyms subject to local lockdowns.

-The Canadian Press

12 a.m. – 1,933 new cases, 17 additional deaths

B.C. health officials reported Monday that 1,933 more people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the province over the weekend.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, also reported that 17 more people had died from the respiratory disease between Friday and Monday. A total of 348 people have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

12 a.m. – Potential exposures at The Morrissey in Vancouver

Vancouver Coastal Health has updated its public exposures page with potential COVID-19 exposures at The Morrissey pub (1127 Granville Street) in downtown Vancouver. The potential exposures occurred on November 12-13, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on both nights.

The exposures are being described as low risk, but patrons of the pub on both nights are being asked to self-monitor for symptoms.

B.C. GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: Here’s everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus

• 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

LOCAL RESOURCES for COVID-19 information

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