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.
Several rivers in British Columbia were under flood warnings on Wednesday as hundreds of homes remained evacuated because of heavy rainfall. There were 12 evacuation orders involving 350 homes in the Fraser Valley Regional District in its coverage area from Boston Bar to Abbotsford.
In B.C., the highest rates of fatal overdose are in the urban Vancouver health region, at 44.6 per 100,000 people, and the remote northern region, where the rate is 42.8 per 100,000.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says November home sales increased by almost 12 per cent from last year as demand continued to outpace supply. The B.C. board says sales for the month amounted to 3,428, up from 3,064 last November but down from 3,494 in October 2021.
Rumours of the bike stash began circulating last week, after social media posts suggested someone was using a Gastown rooftop to store the stolen bikes. Officers began investigating, and quickly determined that the bikes were being lowered to the rooftop by rope from a neighbouring building. After getting several tips, they pinpointed the stash spot and moved in to seize nine bikes on November 22.
There are 2,936 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 213,394 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 301 individuals are in hospital and 98 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
A 45-year-old man was shot during the early morning hours of Nov 29th in Surrey. Surrey RCMP were called to the 9600 block of 135 Street and found the man suffering from life threatening injuries.
