BC’s COVID-19 infection rate has continued to decline since mid-November, with hot spots in the southern interior, northwest and Fraser Valley, where the highest number of diagnosed cases has been recorded since the fall.
The Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, presented the latest modeling of the second surge in the coronavirus in British Columbia on December 23. The age group from 20 to 40 years has the highest infection rate. School-age children continue to test positive with low rates. Less than seven in 1,000 students showed an infection as tests have increased since the start of the school year.
“Most school-age children who have symptoms don’t have COVID-19 and that remains the same as we saw during the pandemic,” said Henry. “With more than 600,000 students and educators in our school system, we have been following this very carefully.”
She admitted that there have been many exposure events with infected people in the school environment when they could be contagious.
“We published these regularly,” said Henry. “It doesn’t mean someone transmitted the virus in these environments, but it is an understanding of how much risk we are in our school environment. And what we have seen is that while we have exposure events that reflect transmission events in our community, we actually have very little transmission in schools. “
RELATED: 518 New Cases Wednesday, the death toll nearing 800 in BC
RELATED: Ottawa Approves Moderna Vaccine, 40,000 Doses On The Go
Outbreak containment tracking in the community has been particularly strained in the Fraser Health area and northern British Columbia, where remote and sparsely populated populations are more difficult to reach.
“Most of our cases are still linked to a known case or outbreak,” said Henry. “That is important to us. That said, we haven’t lost the ability to track contacts. “
With Moderna’s second vaccine approved for use in Canada, BC and other provinces expect to receive it next week. Pfizer has approved the use of its vaccine in multiple locations outside of the company’s delivery points to enable more detailed plans, including vulnerable indigenous communities.
The first goal by the end of February is to reach 150,000 residents and workers in long-term care and assisted living facilities, as well as key visitors to those facilities, frontline health workers, and 25,000 people in remote and isolated indigenous communities.
The second priority group for February and March is 400,000 community seniors, the homeless, provincial prisons, adult residential mentally ill patients, long-term care and hospital staff, community doctors and medical specialists.
@ Tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
BC Legislative Coronavirus
Get local stories you won’t find anywhere else straight to your inbox.
Login here
