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.
Environment Canada had warned this week's series of rain events would bring deluges of 50 to 150 millimetres over much of southern B.C., but preliminary measurements show conditions were not as intense.
Paramedics and medical dispatchers in B.C. responded to a record-setting 35,525 overdose calls last year. BC Emergency Health Services says paramedics attended an average of 97 overdose calls a day last year, a 31 per cent increase compared with 2020.
Insurance losses from a wildfire that wiped out most of Lytton, B.C., have surged to $102 million. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the amount has risen from an original estimate of $78 million mostly because of delays in rebuilding the village.
The school board in Delta, B.C., is requiring all its employees to show proof of vaccination for COVID-19 and is giving them less than two months to disclose their status. Board chair Val Windsor says it is taking the step to reduce the risk of staff and students getting COVID-19.
Reshmi is a South Asian woman and 52 years old. Reshmi’s family and friends, as well as police, are concerned about Reshmi’s well-being and are asking the public to share the information provided above.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that the country will have enough third and fourth doses for all eligible Canadians — if or when they're needed — with contracts signed through 2024 with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
