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.
RCMP found the frozen bodies of the migrants in the snow on Jan. 19 just metres from the Canada-U.S. border near Emerson, Man. Police believe the four were part of a larger human-smuggling operation. A man on the U.S. side has been charged with human smuggling.
The bridge linking Windsor, Ont., and Detroit remained closed to vehicles headed into Canada due to the protest that continued on the Canadian side of the border.
Joël Lightbound told reporters in Ottawa today that federal COVID-19 measures, such as vaccination mandates for travellers and civil servants, need to be re-evaluated and the public needs a clear road map for when restrictions will be fully lifted.
The premier announced last week that such a plan was coming and that the first step would be ending Alberta's vaccine passports to access non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars.
The throne speech comes two weeks ahead of the government's budget, which is expected to include a financial accounting of last fall's floods and mudslides that devastated communities, farms and highways throughout southern B.C.
Ravi Kahlon, the minister of jobs, economic recovery and innovation, said eight out of every 10 new openings in the next decade will require post-secondary education or skills training, which points to where the economy is headed and what is needed to get ready.
