Provincial health officials says uncertainty about new variants BA.2
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Mar, 2022 11:05 AM
British Columbia's provincial health officer says there are still some uncertainties about new variants, including B-A-point-2, with some cases present in B-C.
Doctor Bonnie Henry says the province is prepared for a potential uptick in COVID-19 cases during the next respiratory season.
She says the province will integrate wastewater surveillance testing into its regular surveillance of respiratory illness including influenza, and also include other pathogens to get a periodic snapshot of what else may be circulating in communities.
Henry says a decline in hospitalizations, immunity from vaccination and the availability of at-home rapid tests point the way forward to normal activities like high school graduations, which young people need to feel connected to others.
The call comes days after the government announced Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter and the Sweden's Saab Gripen are the only two planes still in contention for the $19-billion contract to supply Canada with 88 new fighters.
Mike Farnworth visited Princeton and said he saw "incredible devastation" to homes and infrastructure in the southern Interior town, about 280 kilometres east of Vancouver.
British Columbia's health minister says the province is "ahead of the curve" on recommendations by a national advisory group that Canadians ages 50 and older get a COVID-19 booster. Adrian Dix says his ministry announced weeks ago that it would start its booster program and already 470,000 people have had a third shot.
But Selina Robinson says the effects of the floods and extreme weather may affect the government's bottom line after she met today with the Economic Forecast Council, a 13-member private-sector group that is giving her advice before next spring's budget.
There are currently 3,071 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 214,047 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 276 individuals are currently in hospital and 95 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the new federal climate plan won't be ready until the end of March. The net-zero accountability law passed in June requires the government to make public a greenhouse-gas emissions reduction plan for 2030 within six months.
