With B.C.’s reopening plan underway, this week, as B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry noted at today’s briefing, B.C. will begin to see any cases that may have been contracted among those who may have contracted the virus over the Victoria Day long weekend (May 22 to 24).
Henry also addressed a number of issues about vaccinations, and one outbreak has been declared at a school.
Today’s B.C. COVID-19 briefing began on a somber note as Henry spoke about the disturbing and tragic discovery of the remains of 215 First Nations children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
“We must make no mistake that while these deaths happened in the past, our systems and laws continue to perpetuate racism and discrimination that hurts Indigenous peoples in countless ways,” she said.
Adding that “we are all implicated in this tragedy”, Henry urged everyone to find the courage to accept that “this is our history of colonization” and that it is “not something that happened to First Nation children and families—this is something we did to First Nations children and families”.
She asked everyone to consider what they can do
“In order to honour the strength and resilience of survivors and descendants of Indian residential schools, and the memories of all those who never returned home, each and every one of us needs to ask ourselves, ‘What meaningful actions can we take to uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples?’ ” she asked. “We cannot get stuck in our shame and grief but rather commit to ourselves; to one another; and to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, that we will deliberately and intentionally take actions that will serve to heal, rather than harm, from this day forward.”
Henry said there was a total of 708 new cases over the weekend, which includes:
- May 28 to 29: 258 new cases;
- May 29 to 30: 238 new cases;
- May 30 to 31: 212 new cases.
By region, the total over the three day period includes:
- 394 new cases in Fraser Health;
- 140 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
- 113 in Interior Health;
- 42 in Northern Health;
- 18 in Island Health;
- one person from outside Canada.
A good sign is that the number of active cases sank below the 3,000 case mark. With 388 fewer cases than May 28, there are currently 2,953 active cases.
Hospitalized cases also decreased. With 43 fewer patients than May 28, there are now 249 people in hospitals, with 78 patients in intensive care units (one fewer person than on May 28).
Tragically, the pandemic continues to claim lives. Henry said there were 11 deaths over the past three days, including one person in their 40s, two people in their 60s, six people in their 70s, and two people 80 years or above.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said there were seven deaths from May 28 to 29, one death from May 29 to 30, and three people who died from May 30 to 31.
The total number of people who have died during the pandemic is now at 1,703 deaths.
A cumulative total of 139,562 people have now recovered, which includes 1,202 recoveries since May 28.
In the provincial immunization program, Henry said that B.C. has now administered 3,250,116 doses of vaccines, and 179,054 people have received second doses.
Approximately 70 percent of all those 18 years and older, and 66 percent of those 12 years and older, have received their first doses. Dix said that includes:
- 87 percent of people over 70 years of age;
- 84 percent over 60;
- 81 percent over 50;
- 78 percent over 40;
- 74 percent over 30.
Despite high numbers of vaccinations, Henry pointed out that not all residents in all care homes have been fully vaccinated with second doses, and that there has been rapid transmission of the variants in some examples in care facilities. Accordingly, she said we’re not yet at the point where all restrictions can be lifted from longterm care facilities.
She also said there was one case of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), or the blood-clotting syndrome seen in some AstraZeneca recipients that is said to be rare. This case occurred in Island Health in a man in his 30s, who received treatment for his condition in hospital. B.C. has now had a total of three cases of VITT.
Although Pfizer is the only vaccine approved for being administered to children under the age of 18 years of age, 12 children received the Moderna vaccine by mistake, which has not yet been approved for use for those 12 to 18 years old.
Henry said that they don’t believe this mix-up is an error that will cause any “clinical harm” to people, and that she expects that Moderna will be approved for use among youth “very soon”.
Nonetheless, she also said that “does not excuse the fact that it should not have happened” and that they have implemented more processes in clinics to ensure vaccines aren’t mixed up again.
Henry said there are six active outbreaks in healthcare facilities: five in longterm care facilities and one in acute care facilities.
As previous reported, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) declared an outbreak over at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, which had a total of 36 cases, including seven patients who died.
VCH declared an outbreak at Richmond Lions Manor-Bridgeport on May 29.
Today, Fraser Health declared the outbreak at Chartwell Carlton Care Residence in Burnaby to be over.
Meanwhile, Fraser Health declared an outbreak at the Iqra Islamic School in Surrey where 21 cases were confirmed among staff and students. The school voluntarily closed on May 28 and will remain closed during case and contact management.
None of the five regional health authorities listed any new public exposure events.
Fraser Health listed two businesses that were closed on May 28 due to COVID-19:
- Allwest Electric Ltd. (110–2250 Fremont Street) in Port Coquitlam;
- Kenridge Automotive Equipment and Supply Ltd. (3–20120 102b Avenue) in Langley.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) added the following five flights to its lists of public exposures (affected row information is listed at the BCCDC website when available):
- May 12: Air Canada 305, Montreal to Vancouver;
- May 23: Air Canada/Jazz 8205, Vancouver to Prince George;
- May 24: Air Canada 119, Toronto to Vancouver;
- May 27: Turkish Airlines 75, Istanbul to Vancouver;
- May 28: Japan Airlines 18, Tokyo to Vancouver.
Loblaw listed five Real Canadian Superstore locations which had staff members who tested positive (last date the employee worked is in parentheses):
- 32136 Lougheed Highway in Mission (May 19);
- 350 Southeast Marine Drive in Vancouver (May 23);
- 8195 120th Street in Delta (May 24);
- 910 Columbia Street West in Kamloops (May 24);
- 2280 Baron Road in Kelowna (May 26).
In addition, an employee who tested positive last worked on May 25 at Extra Foods at 7000 27th Street in Grand Forks.
McDonald’s listed the location at 22780 Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge as having two staff members who tested positive and who last worked on May 24 and 25.
MoreCOVID-19 in B.C.: Vaccine error among youth; one new blood-clot case; outbreak at one school; and more - The Georgia Straight
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