Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry sometimes gets emotional during her briefings. (BC government photo.)
Dr. Bonnie Henry has been emotional in her covid-19 press conferences before. Early on in the pandemic, she broke down when speaking of deaths in long-term care, showing her viewers just how seriously we should take this virus.
But this week was the first time she’s shown any anger.
When asked how she feels about people flouting the rules or denying the existence of the virus, she said most British Columbians are doing the right thing and it is only a small group of people who are causing outrage.
“It makes me upset when I see this sometimes, knowing how many people have died in long-term care homes and knowing how hard our healthcare workers are working every single day and how everybody is tired,” Dr. Henry said. “It really makes you angry to see these small groups of people who are trying to make a point that is misguided. But we can’t let ourselves take that in because we need to support each other.”
We are perhaps in the darkest days of this pandemic. Case numbers are high – our daily average for the past seven days is more than 750 new cases. The number of deaths is unrelenting – our daily average for the past seven days is 14 deaths each day. Restrictions brought in November have, at best, levelled off our new cases. At worst, they’ve done nothing to slow the spread.
About 20,000 people in B.C. are either sick with covid-19 or isolating at home because they’ve been exposed. Another 24,000 are considered recovered, but reports are that many of those survivors will suffer health effects for months even after they’ve recovered.
In the good news column, Britain has approved the Pfizer vaccine and will begin immunizing people soon. China and Russia have already started, but Britain will be the first western country to start vaccinations. Very good news, indeed.
When asked what she wants for Christmas, Dr. Henry was quick to answer.
“Vaccine? For this to be over?” she said. “What I want for Christmas is for everybody to stay home with their family and stay safe.”
Here’s what else happened this week:
- Plans in Quebec that would have allowed small family gatherings for three days over Christmas have now been cancelled, due to surging cases, the Globe and Mail reports.
- Dr. Henry “strongly recommends” that everyone in B.C. not travel right now, unless it is absolutely essential for work or medical care, including within B.C. “A provincial health officer order cannot stop you from getting into your car or onto a plane, but I am asking in the strongest of terms to not travel unless it is absolutely necessary,” she said.
- Dr. Henry says an adult hockey team from B.C.’s Interior went to Alberta and now there are dozens of cases as a result. That’s just one example of such travel, which is why Dr. Henry is putting all adult indoor sports on hold, as of Dec. 2. She said 10 to 15 per cent of the covid-19 cases in B.C. in recent weeks have been related to sports and physical activity.
- Former B.C. representative for children and youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond was tasked with investigating allegations of racism in the B.C. medical system. While her review didn’t find evidence of a specific game that was alleged based on guessing the blood-alcohol level of Indigenous patients, it did find a “much more widespread and insidious problem” of “pervasive, interpersonal systemic racism” throughout the healthcare system. Turpel-Lafond heard from more than 9,000 Indigenous patients.
- New York City is doing an about-face on school closures. First, the city was among the few large school districts in the U.S. to open schools this fall, but as covid-19 rates continued to climb, the city closed schools again. Parents were not happy and now schools are slated to open again, the New York Times reports.
- Whistle blowers are accusing B.C.’s Provincial Health Services Authority of misspending funds intended for covid-19 treatment. The Ministry of Health has ordered a review, the CBC reports.
- New research has found that covid-19 is most contagious for two days before symptoms begin and for five days afterwards, sparking a discussion over whether quarantine periods should be shortened, the New York Times reports. It is rare for someone who has not had any symptoms to start feeling symptoms after day 10, and if they have a negative test after day seven, it is even more unlikely for someone to come down with covid-19 in the last few days of a two-week incubation.
- A new antibody study has found evidence covid-19 was already circulating in the United States in December, 2019, the Vancouver Sun reports.
- Canada’s finance minister Chrystia Freeland promised $100 billion in stimulus funds to reboot the economy and said Canada’s deficit for this year could be nearly $382 billion in a federal fiscal update, the Globe and Mail reported.
- Some people just don’t get it. Vancouver police gave out $7,000 in fines at four parties last weekend, the Vancouver Sun reports. Meantime, three churches in the Fraser Valley defied the order not to worship in groups and one was fined $2,300, the Globe and Mail reports.
- A new study at B.C. Children’s Hospital is looking at children’s role in how the virus spreads, the Vancouver Sun reports.
By this time next week, we will be one week closer to getting the vaccine in Canada. Dr. Henry predicts some British Columbians will be getting immunized by early January, with wider distribution by next fall.
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