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.
In addition, multiple vehicles that were blocking 176 Street were removed from the area and the road has re-opened. Vehicles and pedestrians are now able to access the border crossing.
The most recent public health orders related to gatherings, events, bars and restaurants, for example, were set to expire on Wednesday and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said she would announce any changes a day earlier.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in his newly released plan that Canada will admit 431,645 permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 next year and 451,000 in 2024.
Distributed Denial of Secrets, which has a history of obtaining leaked information from right-wing organizations and providing it to media, says it has received over 30 megabytes of donor information from Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
Mike Farnworth also said the province supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in using the Emergencies Act to deal with protests that are holding other parts of the country "economic hostage."
In addition, 93.1% (4,315,735) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 90.5% (4,193,878) received their second dose and 52.7% (2,443,314) have received a third dose.
