B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry gives one of her twice-weekly COVID-19 reports. (Photo: BC government)
B.C. has been grappling with two heavy-hitter variants of concern, but now a so-called “double mutant” first identified in India is here in B.C. A total of 39 cases were found, earlier in April, the Vancouver Sun reports. It’s believed this variant is more transmissible and can evade immunity, although it has not yet been labelled a “variant of concern.”
Canada’s federal government announced Thursday that it will ban flights from India and Pakistan over concerns about that variant. India is being particularly hard hit by the pandemic with more than 300,000 new cases being identified every day and more than 16 million cases in total. Of course, India is the second-most populated country in the world, after China, which means that country could soon surpass the United States as the country with the most COVID-19 cases in the world. The more the virus replicates, the more likely mutations are, so there will inevitably be more variants.
B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is supportive of the federal government's move to ban flights, but sympathetic to people in B.C. with relatives in India.
“It is a very difficult time in India right now and our heart goes out to the people there and the people here with family there. It is a tragedy globally that we are seeing and India is bearing the brunt of it right now,” Dr. Henry said.
Meanwhile, in B.C., Health Minister Adrian Dix reports that hospitals are nearing capacity and hundreds of “non-urgent” surgeries will be postponed. Social media reports from doctors and nurses show they are reaching the breaking point. Surrey Memorial, Abbotsford, Lions Gate, Richmond and Vancouver General hospitals have critical care beds at more than 95 per cent of capacity, Dix said. The list is even longer for hospitals at 95 per cent or more occupancy of base beds.
Despite the pressure on healthcare facilities, Dix urged anyone who needs medical attention to get it.
“If you need to go to hospital, go to hospital.”
Dr. Henry, meanwhile, cautioned everyone to be careful.
Even if you are vaccinated, you need to take precautions right now. Keep to your own household, keep your distance, wear a mask even outside, don't travel outside your health authority, avoid indoor gatherings, she said. Stick to your own same small group.
"The pressure on our healthcare system is immense right now and our healthcare workers need our help," Dr. Henry said. "They are still there for us and have been there for the past 15 months."
Meanwhile, here’s the other news this week:
- The tourism industry in B.C. agreed to stop accepting bookings from people outside of the country, province or health authority, said Premier John Horgan. He made the announcement when he told people in B.C. to stop travelling outside of their health authority for non-essential reasons.
- Other restrictions brought in in B.C. include that BC Ferries will stop taking reservations for campers and they will confirm that everyone making reservations is travelling for essential reasons, Horgan says. Signs will be placed along the Alberta border telling people that unless they're coming for essential reasons, they should not be coming to B.C., Horgan says.
- How did P.1 get into B.C.? Apparently it was inter-provincial travel, the Globe and Mail reports. I would still like to know why we don’t tell non-essential inter-provincial travellers it’s an expectation that they quarantine for two weeks. I know we can’t enforce it, but we can say it’s an expectation. I’ve been wondering this for months.
- Ontario brought in strong COVID-19 restrictions, but later had to backpedal and apologize about some of them, the CBC reports.
- Canada has now had three reports of rare blood clots after AstraZeneca vaccinations. See the details of the first two here and the third one here. The age limit in B.C. was lowered to 40 from 55 to be eligible for this vaccine and pharmacies quickly booked up. Social media was full of people posting vaccination selfies. By the end of the week, there was very little AstraZeneca left in pharmacies, Dr. Henry said. It is unknown when more will arrive and Dr. Henry says she is watching studies of mix-and-match vaccines very carefully.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth’s husband, died aged 99. His funeral was held this week and just 30 people were able to attend, due to the pandemic. The Queen was seated alone throughout the ceremony, which was televised.
- The 2021 Oscars will be held in person this Sunday. The 2020 Oscars were in February, so held prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the ceremony will be handled using COVID protocols similar to a movie set.
- A report by two SFU researchers shows B.C. won’t reach herd or community immunity be the fall, the Vancouver Sun reports. They say we will either have to continue to social distance, develop a plan to vaccinate more people including children, or accept that many more people will get COVID-19 before herd immunity is reached.
- Dr. Henry said she believes we will have a vaccine approved at least for teenagers by this summer. Pfizer is licenced now for people over the age of 16.
- The head of Pfizer said most people will probably need three doses of the Pfizer vaccine within a year and then booster doses annually, the CBC reports.
- Even people who are not hospitalized with COVID-19 face an increased risk of dying in the months after having the virus, the New York Times reports.
- Fully vaccinated baseball fans will have one section of the ballpark all to themselves at an LA Dodgers game against the San Diego Padres, the New York Times reports.
The emergence of this new variant shows how interconnected the world is – if COVID is rampant anywhere, it can spread anywhere. That reveals the critical importance of wealthy countries sharing vaccines with poor countries. We are all in this together.
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