B.C. is flattening the COVID curve, but too soon to relax restrictions, says health officer

Apr 17, 2020 | 12:15 PM

We are on the right track — but now we need to hold the line.

Those were the comments of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry who updated COVID-19 models for British Columbia today.

Henry said we have seen a slowing of new cases which she attributes to the public health orders, but says the restrictions will remain for some time to come, and it’s essential B.C. residents keep following the rules.

“It is the work we have done together to follow that advice: to stay close to home, to stay close to our families, to keep those safe distances, to clean our hands, to stay away from others if we’re ill. That is what has made the difference for us in British Columbia. We are profoundly grateful, but we are not out of it yet. We are still in the eye of that storm, and we still have to watch what’s happening around the world,” said Henry.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the current restrictions won’t change at least until early May when the government will update the models and start to develop a framework for re-opening the economy.

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“There are many sectors of the economy, right now, which are continuing to operate and aren’t in other jurisdictions, and this has proven to be an effective response,” said Dix. “We’ve applied the science to every case, and so as we look at industries, that’s going to have to continue being the case in the months to come as we deal with the new normal.”

Dr. Henry said the models give them an idea of what could happen, and show we’re not at the point where the restrictions can be eased.

“But there is some room in the future for us to say ‘What does it look like to maintain distance but have more social contact, to have some businesses open up again, to have our health system open up again to allow for those people who have had those critical procedures postponed?’ We have to find that balance of how much contact still protects us but allows us to open things up.”

Henry said it may mean smaller classes when schools reopen, only some children going to school at certain times, no mingling of students, and a hybrid of remote and at school learning.

She added, going forward, businesses could face a hybrid for a period of time of staff working at home and smaller numbers in the actual sites.

In the stats released today, Henry said 53 per cent of B.C.’s 1,517 cases (as of April 14) have been to females, with 47 per cent male, with most of the cases to people between the ages of 30 and 60.

The median age of the 72 B.C. residents who have died is 86.

Click here for the B.C. Health Ministry’s dashboard of the latest COVID statistics.

Click here to see all the slides of Dr. Henry’s presentation.

by Pete McIntyre

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