Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C.'s top doctor ends public health emergency declared for COVID-19

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Jul, 2024 10:21 AM
  • B.C.'s top doctor ends public health emergency declared for COVID-19

After four years that included mask mandates, vaccination requirements, gathering restrictions, surging hospitalizations and thousands of deaths, British Columbia’s top doctor has ended the province's public-health emergency for COVID-19. 

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Friday that all remaining restrictions, including the vaccination requirement for health-care workers, will be rescinded.

"While COVID-19 is not gone, we now have high levels of protection in the health-care system and in communities throughout B.C.," she told a news conference.

After reviewing all the data, Henry said she was confident the province had reached the point where there was no longer a need for the public health emergency. 

Henry said she looked at data including infection rates, immunization rates, deaths and hospitalization numbers, as well as the "evolution" of the COVID-19 virus over time.

There had been a resurgence of COVID-19, she said, referencing the positive test result for U.S. President Joe Biden last week. 

But infection rates have been coming down, she said, adding Omicron is still the predominant strain and the virus hasn't changed as quickly as it did during the early days of the pandemic.

"Wastewater indicators and testing data show COVID-19 has levelled off and the number of people in intensive care and in hospitals is lower and stable," Henry said. 

"The level of protection provided by vaccines and hybrid immunity is also helping."

Over the last week, fewer than 200 people have been in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C., she said, including 11 who were in intensive care.

Henry said the virus would likely surge again in the fall, which could prompt restrictions over time.

"We know (the virus) is inevitably going to mutate," she said. "It may be that we'll need to have different varieties of the vaccine over time."

The public health emergency was declared on March 17, 2020, and B.C. was the first province to record a COVID-19 death in the country. Mask mandates followed the emergency declaration, gatherings and public events were cancelled, businesses shut down and those who could began working from home. 

The World Health Organization declared in May 2023 that COVID-19 was no longer classified as a global health emergency.

The restrictions associated with the pandemic, including vaccine mandates, had become political flashpoints in B.C., across Canada and beyond.

Joining Henry on Friday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said health workers fired due to previous orders can apply to fill available positions, although they must provide their "immune status" for certain pathogens, including COVID-19.

Dix said "99 per cent" of health-care workers had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the number of workers fired was relatively small. He used figures from the Northern Health Authority as an example, saying two full-time nurses and one part-time nurse lost their jobs as a result of the mandate.

A B.C. Supreme Court decision upholding the province's vaccine rules earlier this year said approximately 1,800 health-care workers lost their jobs over the vaccine mandate.

Dix defended the measure Friday, saying the vaccination requirement was "instrumental in protecting health-care workers against severe COVID-19 illness and complications, reducing the transmission to vulnerable patients and care-home residents, and supporting the resiliency of our health-care system."

In response to a question about the timing of the announcement a few months before the provincial election in October, Henry said her determination had "nothing to do with any of the decisions of government or other factors in that sense."

"There is an obligation under the Public Health Act for me to lift orders as soon as reasonably possible when the conditions are no longer met," she added.

Henry said the change could potentially have been made "a few months ago," but there was still uncertainty around the impacts of a spring wave of COVID-19.

With the vaccine requirement lifted, Dix said the B.C. government was requiring health workers to register their vaccination status for illnesses including COVID-19, influenza, measles, mumps, German measles, hepatitis B, whooping cough and chickenpox.

"The intention of this registry is to protect people, to ensure that the health-care system can best respond to challenges in the future, and to increase rates of vaccinations across categories quickly and efficiently," the minister said.

Henry said she believed the changes struck "the right balance of protection" for health-care workers, patients, the health-care system and the broader community.

MORE National ARTICLES

DNA match leads to conviction 22 years after B.C. sexual assault

DNA match leads to conviction 22 years after B.C. sexual assault
Police in Metro Vancouver say a DNA match led to a man's arrest and conviction more than 22 years after he broke into a woman's home and sexually assaulted her.  Richmond RCMP say Christopher Sharafi, also known as Mohammed Mendi Sharafi, was found guilty last October, and in April he was sentenced to five years in prison for the two offences dating back to December 2001.

DNA match leads to conviction 22 years after B.C. sexual assault

Weekend arson in Kelowna

Weekend arson in Kelowna
Mounties in Kelowna say they're investigating an arson that occurred last Sunday morning. Kelowna R-C-M-P say city firefighters were called to a blaze at an automotive business on Kent Road. 

Weekend arson in Kelowna

Pattullo Bridge replacement delayed for second time

Pattullo Bridge replacement delayed for second time
Surrey's mayor is criticizing the B-C government's recent announcement that the Pattullo Bridge replacement has been delayed for the second time.  The province says the bridge spanning the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey will not be completed and open to traffic until the fall of 2025. 

Pattullo Bridge replacement delayed for second time

126 children and youth died from toxic drugs in five years, says BC Coroners Service

126 children and youth died from toxic drugs in five years, says BC Coroners Service
A report from the BC Coroners Service says 126 children and youth younger than 19 died from toxic drugs between 2019 and 2023. That makes unregulated drug toxicity the leading cause of unnatural death for the age group over those five years.

126 children and youth died from toxic drugs in five years, says BC Coroners Service

2 dead in crash east of Kamloops

2 dead in crash east of Kamloops
Mounties in the Interior say two people are dead after a crash between two semi-trucks on Highway 1 near Sorrento, east of Kamloops. Chase R-C-M-P say officers responded to the crash at 11:45 P-M and found one of the semis travelling east had failed to make a right turn, resulting in the truck flipping onto its side in the oncoming lane. 

2 dead in crash east of Kamloops

2 killed in Cloverdale crash

2 killed in Cloverdale crash
Police in Surrey are asking for anyone with dash-camera footage to come forward after a crash that killed two people in the Cloverdale neighbourhood. Surrey R-C-M-P say officers responded to the crash at around 4:40 p-m yesterday, after a Dodge Ram pickup heading east on Highway 10 crashed into a westbound Acura sedan attempting to make a left turn onto 184th Street.

2 killed in Cloverdale crash