This graphic is from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the grey line shows what will happen if we maintain our current rate of social contacts.
I heard the beautiful sound of dozens of children playing together outside at a school playground this week, and it was music to my ears. After more than six months of covid, the sound of large groups – bustling restaurants or fans cheering a baseball game – moves me like never before.
Kids returning to school mid-pandemic is controversial and I understand why. But the kids I saw, many of whom were very young and nonchalantly wearing masks as though they’ve worn them forever, looked like they were very happy to be back at school. And the playing was progressing very well, indeed.
The flip side of that is the growing number of cases in B.C. schools – so far the B.C. health authority websites list 30 schools with covid-19 exposures. Twenty-three of those are in Fraser Health, two in Interior Health, three in Northern Health and 2 in Vancouver Coastal Health. So far, there hasn’t been any reported transmission in B.C. schools, but that’s unlikely to hold.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Canadians the country is “at a crossroads” in the covid-19 pandemic. In March, when the country shut down, there were 47 new cases that day. On Wednesday, he said there were more than 1,000 new cases.
“It's all too likely we won't be gathering at Thanksgiving, but we still have a shot at Christmas," PM Trudeau said. He encouraged Canadians to get the flu shot, download the covid-19 tracking app and minimize social contacts.
Plenty of other voices had similar cautions this week. Some of them will be found below, in my list of weekly happenings.
- Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said if Canadians maintain the same level of interactions they are currently having, the number of cases will grow quickly. “With minimum controls, the virus is capable of surging into a very sharp and intense peak,” she said, adding that such a surge could overwhelm the healthcare system and have intense effects on social and economic systems. Tam also said similar resurgences in other countries have been even bigger than the spring surge in cases.
- B.C. Premier John Horgan has called an election for Saturday, Oct. 24. It’s controversial because the next fixed election date was for October 2021, but Horgan is the most popular premier in Canada, so it’s politically expedient to call an election now. Seven NDP MLAs are not returning.
- B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry revealed she has been subject to death threats through the pandemic, the Vancouver Sun reports.
- One hundred and forty-seven people died from drug overdoses in British Columbia in August, which is lower than in July, but still about three people every day.
- B.C. has suspended all civil jury trials for a year due to the pandemic, CBC reports. Civil trials are for non-criminal matters.
- The B.C. Teachers’ Federation has applied to the Labour Relations Board, saying working and learning conditions in B.C. schools are unsafe.
- Property crime is up in Vancouver during the pandemic, the Vancouver Sun reported. Break-ins of businesses are up nearly 50 per cent.
- The idea of pooled tests has come up. Under a model like this, a large group of people could be tested together with a gargle or spit test (ie a workplace or a school) and individual testing would only happen if there was a positive result for the group test. It’s an interesting idea to get a lot of people tested quickly, but save time and resources.
- The television awards show the Emmy Awards took place online. It was a bizarre, but fun way to celebrate television.
- American President Donald Trump called covid-19 “the China virus” in a virtual address to the United Nations this week. Trump’s speech was mostly an attack on China. He called China “the nation which unleashed this plague unto the world” and said China must be held accountable.
- Canadian Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and his wife both tested positive for covid-19, as did Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet.
- Airlines would like covid-19 testing to replace quarantine rules and travel restrictions.
- A promising vaccine from Johnson and Johnson is entering the third phase of trials, the New York Times reports. It’s a positive development because the vaccine doesn’t need to be kept frozen and it looks like it may only require one dose to be effective.
This time next week, it will be October. One month closer to the end of the pandemic, whenever that day arrives.
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