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 B.C. RCMP arrested several people, including a photojournalist and a documentary filmmaker, last month when officers moved to enforce an injunction barring protesters from blocking an access road used by Coastal GasLink workers.
Experts and global health leaders say it's still too soon to tell whether the Omicron variant will significantly threaten immunity gained from current COVID-19 vaccines as calls grow in some corners for expanded booster shots.
The British Columbia government says it is immediately providing a grant of $1 million to support the Village of Lytton as it recovers from a destructive wildfire last summer. The fast-moving fire razed much of the Fraser Canyon community on June 30, just one day after the temperature there hit an all-time Canadian high of 49.6 Celsius.
There are 2,874 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 215,884 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 224 individuals are currently in hospital and 77 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
British Columbia's seniors advocate is calling for a provincewide approach for reporting seniors abuse amid complaints that are "significantly rising." Isobel Mackenzie says there is a clear five-year pattern of increasing reports of seniors abuse and neglect, but the fragmented reporting system suggests the problem could be more widespread.
Canada will join a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday. The decision comes two days after the United States announced it would send government officials to the Olympics over concerns about China's human rights record.
