Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix threw cold water Monday on any “vaccine optimism” that may be budding in B.C. as daily infection counts and hospitalizations creep upwards.
B.C. confirmed an average of 595 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend and hospitalizations cracked 300 for the first time since the end of January. Active cases, now at 5,290, have been growing slowly for several weeks.
That is contrasted by good news on the vaccine front with more than 10 per cent of the province now partially protected by a single dose.
“This is a really challenging moment. The vaccines of course provide us with a great deal of hope, but the orders are still in place and gathering indoors is a major problem in B.C. and continues to be with respect to COVID-19,” Dix said.
“If you are thinking of going out for a birthday celebration, or someone invites you to a wedding celebration somewhere; Do. Not. Go. Right. Now.”
Dix said indicators like new infections, hospitalizations and variant cases are “still too high, or worse, are moving in the wrong direction.”
Have an opinion? Send it to [email protected]
