High vaccination rate, low COVID-19 cases point to further reopening in B.C. - OHS Canada

VICTORIA — High COVID-19 vaccination rates and a dramatic drop in cases that hasn’t been seen since last August have set the stage for a further loosening of restrictions in British Columbia this week.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said 145 infections were diagnosed in the past three days, with 38 of them recorded between Sunday and Monday. Five more people died, for a total of 1,754 deaths.

“We now have a sustained low reproductive rate. That means that for most people who are infected, they are not passing this on to anybody,” she said Monday. “That’s how the pandemic will fizzle out over time, as long as we continue to not have infectious contact, to do the things that we need to do to prevent transmission.”

Vaccination is preventing seven out of 10 cases in B.C., where nearly 77 per cent of residents aged 12 and over have received their first dose of a vaccine, though Henry urged more younger people to get immunized this summer as rates among that group are levelling off.

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Premier John Horgan was scheduled to join Henry and the province’s jobs minister on Tuesday to make an announcement about the third phase of B.C.’s four-part restart plan. The next step is expected to begin Thursday, when residents can go to dinner indoors and outdoors without a limit on numbers, and attend fairs and festivals by following communicable disease measures, such as staying away if they’re sick.

B.C. employers shift from COVID-19 safety plans to prevention as communicable disease

Masks will no longer be mandatory as part of the next phase of reopening, before further restrictions are removed in September, Henry said.

“It’s really important for us to give that agency back to people. And you wear a mask based on your own risk and based on being immunized and being protected, where you protect others through being immunized as well,” she said.

As for any unvaccinated visitors coming to B.C., Henry said: “Our advice to them is, don’t come unless you’re vaccinated.”

Residents in some small communities in the province have had to drive long distances to get immunized, including in the Northern and Interior health regions, and Henry said drive-thru clinics were planned to make vaccination more convenient.

“Unfortunately, a number of those planned for this week were postponed because of the heat, not so much for the people driving but for the staff, where they have to stand outside,” she said.

Overall, 95 per cent of bookings went ahead as scheduled around the province this weekend despite record-breaking temperatures, Henry said.

By Camille Bains in Vancouver

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Ontario reports 299 new COVID-19 cases, 25 deaths as numbers include older data amid cleanup - Global News

Ontario is reporting 299 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, however, officials said several cases from the count are from last year. The provincial case total now stands at 544,713.

“Due to a data review and clean-up, today’s numbers include 90 cases from 2020 that have been included in Toronto’s case count,” the ministry of health said.

According to Tuesday’s report, 130 cases were recorded in Toronto, 69 in Waterloo Region and 20 in Peel Region.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 15 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,154 as 25 more deaths were recorded. However, the ministry of health said about 19 deaths were from previous months and were included in Tuesday’s count.

Read more: All Ontario adults eligible for faster 2nd shot of COVID-19 vaccine

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As of 8 p.m. on Monday, more than 14.4 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered. That marked another new record increase of 265,231 vaccines (26,532 for a first shot and 238,699 for a second shot) in the last day.

There are more than 4.5 million people fully immunized with two doses which is 37.3 per cent of the adult (18+) population. First dose adult coverage stands at 77.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 533,150 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 98 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 371 from the previous day.

There were more resolved cases than new cases on Tuesday.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 2,409 — down from the previous day when it was at 2,506, and is down from June 22 when it was at 3,248. At the peak of the second wave coronavirus surge in January, active cases hit just above 30,000. In the third wave in April, active cases topped 43,000.

The seven-day average has now reached 278, which is the same as yesterday’s, but is down from last week at 334. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 1,100.

The government said 28,306 tests were processed in the last 24 hours. There is currently a backlog of 11,990 tests awaiting results. A total of 15,922,024 tests have been completed since the start of the pandemic.

Test positivity for Tuesday hit 1.6 per cent, a slight decrease from Monday’s when it was 1.8 per cent. Last week, test positivity was also 1.6 per cent.

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Ontario reported 257 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (up by 39 from the previous day) with 276 patients in intensive care units (down by 11) and 185 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down by six). Hospitalizations have been on the decline since the third wave peak in April.

Read more: Canada’s COVID-19 death toll could be thousands higher than official count: report

Variants of concern in Ontario

Officials have listed breakdown data for the new VOCs (variants of concern) detected so far in the province which consist of the B.1.1.7 (now named by WHO as “Alpha” and was first detected in the United Kingdom), B.1.351 (now named by WHO as “Beta” and was first detected in South Africa), P.1 (now named by WHO as “Gamma” and was first detected in Brazil), and B.1.617.2 (now named by WHO as “Delta” and was first detected in India).

“Alpha” the B.1.1.7 VOC: 143,381 variant cases, which is up by 31 since the previous day,

“Beta” the B.1.351 VOC: 1,315 variant cases, which is up by 42 since the previous day.

“Gamma” the P.1 VOC: 4,439 variant cases which is up by 11 since the previous day.

“Delta” B.1.617.2 VOC: 1,704 variant cases which is up by 75 since the previous day.

Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:

• 271,388 people are male — an increase of 133 cases.
• 269,540 people are female — an increase of 168 cases.
• 87,653 people are 19 and under — an increase of 62 cases.
• 204,034 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 83 cases.
• 155,490 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 96 cases.
• 72,379 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 34 cases.
• 25,057 people are 80 and over — an increase of 26 cases.
• The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.

Here is a breakdown of the total deaths related to COVID-19 by age:

• Deaths reported in ages 19 and under: 4
• Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 82
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 569 (+5)
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 2,908 (+12)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,590 (+8)
• The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data corrections or updates can result in death records being removed.

2:16 COVID-19: Ontario businesses prepare for reopening, but need funding

COVID-19: Ontario businesses prepare for reopening, but need funding

Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,782 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is unchanged since yesterday. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 5 current outbreaks in homes, which is a decrease of one from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently eight active cases among long-term care residents five active cases among staff — unchanged and down by four, respectively, in the last day.

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Ghana uses drones to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas - FRANCE 24 English

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 29, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.

Fast Facts:

• More than 100,000 people in Ottawa booked earlier appointments for their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning.
• The number of known active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa is below 100 for the first time in almost a year.
• More than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ottawa.

COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):

• New COVID-19 cases: 11 new cases on Monday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,661
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 7.3
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 0.9 per cent (June 21-27)
• Reproduction Number: 0.85 (seven day average)

Testing:

Who should get a test?

Ottawa Public Health says you can get a COVID-19 test at an assessment centre, care clinic, or community testing site if any of the following apply to you:

• You are showing COVID-19 symptoms;
• You have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by Ottawa Public Health or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app;
• You are a resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by Ottawa Public Health;
• You are a resident, a worker or a visitor to long-term care, retirement homes, homeless shelters or other congregate settings (for example: group homes, community supported living, disability-specific communities or congregate settings, short-term rehab, hospices and other shelters);
• You are a person who identifies as First Nations, Inuit or Métis;
• You are a person travelling to work in a remote First Nations, Inuit or Métis community;
• You received a preliminary positive result through rapid testing;
• You require testing 72 hours before a scheduled (non-urgent or emergent) surgery (as recommended by your health care provider);
• You are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort tra­velling out of country for medical treatment;
• You are an international student that has passed their 14-day quarantine period;
• You are a farm worker;
• You are an educator who cannot access pharmacy-testing; or
• You are in a targeted testing group as outlined in guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa:

There are several sites for COVID-19 testing in Ottawa. To book an appointment, visit https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/shared-content/assessment-centres.aspx

• The Brewer Ottawa Hospital/CHEO Assessment Centre: Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• The Heron Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre (Kemptville) – 15 Campus Drive: Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Centretown Community Health Centre: Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sandy Hill Community Health Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 pm.
• Somerset West Community Health Centre: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday

COVID-19 screening tool:

The COVID-19 screening tool for summer camp children and staff. All campers and staff must complete the COVID-19 School and Childcare screening tool daily.

Symptoms:

Classic Symptoms: fever, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath

Other symptoms: sore throat, difficulty swallowing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, pneumonia, new or unexplained runny nose or nasal congestion

Less common symptoms: unexplained fatigue, muscle aches, headache, delirium, chills, red/inflamed eyes, croup

The head of the City of Ottawa's COVID-19 vaccination task force says 100,000 appointments for earlier second doses were booked as of noon Monday.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, all adults 18 and older who received a first dose of Pfizer or Moderna became eligible to book an appointment to receive a second shot ahead of schedule.

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's "Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron" on Monday afternoon, Anthony Di Monte, Ottawa's general manager of emergency and protective services, said it was a busy morning.

"Over 100,000 people were able to book before noon and move up their second dose booking, which is great news," he said.

Di Monte said some people turned down a second dose over the weekend because the vaccine that was available was not their preferred brand, but he said it wasn't significant.

"We have had a couple hundred people turn around and say, 'No, I got Pfizer, I want Pfizer,'" Di Monte said. "I hope that's not a trend and we haven't seen it as a trend yet."  

The number of known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa is now below 100 for the first time since July 2020.

Ottawa Public Health said Monday that 11 more people had tested positive for COVID-19 and 18 more cases were resolved, dropping the number of active cases to 99. The last time that figure was below 100 was July 10, 2020.

No new deaths were reported in Ottawa on Monday. To date, Ottawa has seen 27,661 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 591 resident deaths since the pandemic began. 

The weekly average positivity rate in Ottawa dropped below 1 on Monday. The weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 residents continues to decline.

Records for the most COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in a day and in a week in Ottawa were smashed last week as the city approaches a major vaccination milestone.

According to data from Ottawa Public Health, 127,507 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Ottawa last week, well above the 90,000 doses administered each of the two weeks prior.

The busiest day for vaccinations was Friday, June 25, with 21,282 doses administered in a single day, another record.

As of 3:15 a.m. Monday, 995,981 doses of vaccine had been administered in Ottawa, including at community clinics, primary care clinics, pop-up clinics, and pharmacies.

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron, Anthony Di Monte, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services said one million vaccines will have been administered locally by this time Tuesday.

"In the next 24 hours, we'll be there," he said.

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 29, 2021 - CTV Edmonton
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High vaccination rate, low COVID-19 cases point to further reopening in B.C. - CKPGToday.ca

Premier John Horgan was scheduled to join Henry and the province’s jobs minister on Tuesday to make an announcement about the third phase of B.C.’s four-part restart plan. The next step is expected to begin Thursday, when residents can go to dinner indoors and outdoors without a limit on numbers, and attend fairs and festivals by following communicable disease measures, such as staying away if they’re sick.

Masks will no longer be mandatory as part of the next phase of reopening, before further restrictions are removed in September, Henry said.

“It’s really important for us to give that agency back to people. And you wear a mask based on your own risk and based on being immunized and being protected, where you protect others through being immunized as well,” she said.

As for any unvaccinated visitors coming to B.C., Henry said: “Our advice to them is, don’t come unless you’re vaccinated.”

Residents in some small communities in the province have had to drive long distances to get immunized, including in the Northern and Interior health regions, and Henry said drive-thru clinics were planned to make vaccination more convenient.

“Unfortunately, a number of those planned for this week were postponed because of the heat, not so much for the people driving but for the staff, where they have to stand outside,” she said.

Overall, 95 per cent of bookings went ahead as scheduled around the province this weekend despite record-breaking temperatures, Henry said.

Earlier Monday, WorkSafeBC issued guidelines for employers on transitioning from safety measures around COVID-19 to preventing the illness as a communicable disease as part of the province’s reopening plan.

WorkSafeBC is putting Henry’s recent advice into practice by asking employers to ensure that fundamental practices like handwashing and personal hygiene are followed before the regular season of respiratory illness begins in the fall.

Employers will be required to provide appropriate ventilation and encourage employees to stay home when they are sick. They must also be prepared to implement or maintain additional measures when the risk of communicable disease including influenza is elevated in their region or the workplace.

Al Johnson, WorkSafeBC’s head of prevention services, said the agency is expecting more direction on whether masks should continue to be worn as employers slowly shift to taking on new responsibilities over the coming weeks and months.

“We’re not expecting employers to immediately, on the 1st of July, to take away all of the precautions and safeguards that they were employing for the last 15 months, but to work with their workers and to transition away from those,” Johnson said.

Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work, the same as any time they don’t feel they are being adequately protected, he said, adding prevention officers will continue to do inspections as they have done for COVID-19 plans, but will now be shifting to more consultation with employers and workers.

— By Camille Bains in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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High vaccination rate, low COVID-19 cases point to further reopening in B.C. - Alaska Highway News

VICTORIA — High COVID-19 vaccination rates and a dramatic drop in cases that hasn't been seen since last August have set the stage for a further loosening of restrictions in British Columbia this week.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said 145 infections were diagnosed in the past three days, with 38 of them recorded between Sunday and Monday. Five more people died, for a total of 1,754 deaths.

"We now have a sustained low reproductive rate. That means that for most people who are infected, they are not passing this on to anybody," she said Monday. "That's how the pandemic will fizzle out over time, as long as we continue to not have infectious contact, to do the things that we need to do to prevent transmission."

Vaccination is preventing seven out of 10 cases in B.C., where nearly 77 per cent of residents aged 12 and over have received their first dose of a vaccine, though Henry urged more younger people to get immunized this summer as rates among that group are levelling off.

Premier John Horgan was scheduled to join Henry and the province's jobs minister on Tuesday to make an announcement about the third phase of B.C.'s four-part restart plan. The next step is expected to begin Thursday, when residents can go to dinner indoors and outdoors without a limit on numbers, and attend fairs and festivals by following communicable disease measures, such as staying away if they're sick.

Masks will no longer be mandatory as part of the next phase of reopening, before further restrictions are removed in September, Henry said.

"It's really important for us to give that agency back to people. And you wear a mask based on your own risk and based on being immunized and being protected, where you protect others through being immunized as well," she said.

As for any unvaccinated visitors coming to B.C., Henry said: "Our advice to them is, don't come unless you're vaccinated."

Residents in some small communities in the province have had to drive long distances to get immunized, including in the Northern and Interior health regions, and Henry said drive-thru clinics were planned to make vaccination more convenient.

"Unfortunately, a number of those planned for this week were postponed because of the heat, not so much for the people driving but for the staff, where they have to stand outside," she said.

Overall, 95 per cent of bookings went ahead as scheduled around the province this weekend despite record-breaking temperatures, Henry said.

Earlier Monday, WorkSafeBC issued guidelines for employers on transitioning from safety measures around COVID-19 to preventing the illness as a communicable disease as part of the province's reopening plan.

WorkSafeBC is putting Henry's recent advice into practice by asking employers to ensure that fundamental practices like handwashing and personal hygiene are followed before the regular season of respiratory illness begins in the fall.

Employers will be required to provide appropriate ventilation and encourage employees to stay home when they are sick. They must also be prepared to implement or maintain additional measures when the risk of communicable disease including influenza is elevated in their region or the workplace.

Al Johnson, WorkSafeBC's head of prevention services, said the agency is expecting more direction on whether masks should continue to be worn as employers slowly shift to taking on new responsibilities over the coming weeks and months.

"We're not expecting employers to immediately, on the 1st of July, to take away all of the precautions and safeguards that they were employing for the last 15 months, but to work with their workers and to transition away from those," Johnson said.

Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work, the same as any time they don't feel they are being adequately protected, he said, adding prevention officers will continue to do inspections as they have done for COVID-19 plans, but will now be shifting to more consultation with employers and workers.

— By Camille Bains in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press

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Vaccination rates continue to climb in B.C. - CKPGToday.ca

Henry said 78.1 per cent of adults and 76.8 per cent of everyone over the age of 12 in B.C. have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

She says a total of 4,886,709 doses of vaccine have been administered, 1,320,194 of which are second doses.

And though the heat wave B.C. is experiencing forced the postponement of some vaccinations over the weekend, Henry says 95 per cent of bookings still went forward.

As for new cases of the virus over the weekend, Henry announced there were 145, zero in the Northern Health region.

The majority of the cases, 68, were diagnosed in the Fraser Health region.

Active cases of the virus are down to 930, with 107 people in hospital, 37 of whom are in critical care.

Sadly there were five COVID-19 related deaths, bringing B.C.’s death toll to 1,754.

by Greg Fry

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