Anti-racism demonstrations broke out in the United States after the death of George Floyd.
This was the week the world’s attention shifted away from the covid-19 pandemic and toward racial inequality and unrest in the United States.
Massive protests broke out across the United States, Canada and Europe in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man, who was arrested and killed in Minneapolis when the arresting officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. The demonstrations in the United States occurred in almost every major city across the country and sometimes looting and fires broke out.
This comes as a disproportionate number of black people are dying from covid-19 In the U.S., and millions of people have lost their jobs. The arresting officer has now been charged with second-degree murder and another three officers have been charged with lesser crimes. The protests continue, while everyone waits to see if the massive gatherings will lead to a surge in coronavirus cases.
The United States now has 1.9 million covid-19 cases and 110,000 Americans have died. Brazil, Russia, India, Peru, Iran, Chile and Mexico are other hot spots in the world, where about 130,000 new cases arise every day. In Canada, our pandemic is slowing with 93,726 total cases and 7,637 deaths.
British Columbia now has just 207 active cases, down from 241 last week. We’ve now had 166 deaths with only two in the past week.
Although the crisis south of the border is the main focus of news, covid-19 changes and announcements are still happening. Here’s my list for this week:
- Officials in B.C., where there has been one anti-racism demonstration with more planned, are concerned the mass gatherings will lead to a spike in cases. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry told people who attended the protest in Vancouver to keep a close eye out for symptoms and Health Minister Adrian Dix encouraged people to think about virtual gatherings or many smaller gatherings.
- Schools opened on a part-time voluntary basis on Monday, June 1. Education Minister Rob Fleming said his children – a boy in Grade 5 and a girl in middle school – were included in the 60,000 B.C. children who chose to return to school. It’s likely that even in September, school will be a “hybrid” model of online and in person, Fleming said. The official call will come in late August, but we have to prepare for a second wave of covid-19, he said.
- Along with schools, playgrounds were reopened.
- Polling company Angus Reid will be distributing 10,000 kits for Canadians to provide blood samples as part of a survey to see how many Canadians have had covid-19.
-The cruise ship season will not resume this year in Vancouver.
- About 26,000 people have died in American long-term care homes, a study found.
- B.C. brought in a rule banning commercial landlords from evicting their tenants, unless the landlord applies for federal rent relief. The ban is in effect for at least the next month.
- Vancouver city council made it easier for restaurants to get approval to expand their patios. Dr. Henry encouraged people to eat at restaurants, saying she herself has done so and plans to continue.
- Sweden’s health chief said the country could have done more to save lives against covid-19.
- European countries including Italy and Germany have started to open their borders to travellers.
- Canada expanded the requirement for face masks for staff on airplanes, trains, ships and transit.
- B.C. released some detailed information about covid-19 cases. One of the more interesting bits of information was about where our cases came from. The majority were a virus strain from Europe, Eastern Canada and Washington. Earlier on in the pandemic, some cases were from China and Iran, but the much larger outbreak was from Eastern Canada and Washington State. - The new data continued to show that in B.C., more women than men test positive for covid-19, but more men than women get severe disease that requires hospitalization or intensive care. More men also die from covid-19.
- The data shows that in B.C., the pandemic was focused in the Lower Mainland, most particularly in the Fraser Valley. Over the past two weeks, there have been zero cases in Richmond, 13 cases in Vancouver and 57 in Delta and Surrey.
But the big news remains the crisis south of the border. Let’s hope by this time next week there is no surge in covid-19 cases and that the American people have found a way to be more united, working towards a common goal of racial equality.
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