Dr. Bonnie Henry during a COVID-19 update (photo courtesy of the province of B.C. / Flickr)

By Liam Verster

80% of new cases

Omicron variant now dominant strain in B.C.

Jan 4, 2022 | 2:50 PM

The Omicron variant has taken over British Columbia, prompting the province to ask the public to take action to prevent further transmission.

During today’s COVID-19 update, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said Omicron now accounts for over 80 per cent of new cases in B.C.

With the new strain taking over, Henry said the province has to pivot its response thus far to reduce the risk of transmission.

“We know that some of things that we did all along that made a difference with the strains that we’ve been dealing with are no longer that useful right now, in particular because we have that shorter incubation period of three days and the transmission is happening much more rapidly and we have a disease that is much more undifferentiated, which means that people have milder, upper respiratory symptoms that could be very similar, at least early on, to a cold or to influenza,” said Henry.

“That means that things like case and contact tracing are no longer reactionary measures that are able to work to contain this. It means that all of us have to be proactive in how we prevent ourselves from getting sick, but also how we prevent transmission to others.”

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Henry added the province will face a challenge over the coming weeks with a high number of people who are off work or school due to illness, which could have impacts on health care and education.

She said the interruption to business continuity is another thing that must be considered.

“Given this rate of transmission, the short incubation period, and the high number of people who are getting ill, we need all businesses to put contingency plans in place to keep businesses operating when staff are off ill,” said Henry.

“At this point, given the number of people getting sick every day, we need to reactivate those COVID-19 safety plans, those were the layers of protection specific to your business that allowed you to operate safely. We need to anticipate that as many as a third of your work force at any one time may become ill with COVID-19 and they may not be able to come to work and we need to adapt businesses so they can operate at these reduced numbers.”

Henry added that “this is not about public health orders and us telling you what to do. This is about activating all of those layers of protection available for your business in your situation to keep you from having to shut down because you don’t have enough people to operate.”

Henry also urged British Columbians to work from home if able, and reinforced the need for physical distancing, hand washing and sanitizing, and masking in businesses and in public spaces.

With schools reopening this week, Henry also noted that educators may be at risk of illness, and asked that parents and guardians consider focusing on having their kids in schools and not in extracurricular activities where they may be exposed to the virus.

She also said getting a COVID-19 vaccine is very important, because while it may not prevent someone from being infected, it is much less likely that a vaccinated individual will become seriously ill from the virus compared to an unvaccinated individual.

She added the hospitalization and critical care rates remain below those seen under the Delta variant, though they are starting to increase once again under Omicron. With these slight gains, she urges people to take measures to reduce the risk of becoming infected and having to seek medical attention, as the rising infection rates could have an impact on the amount of health care workers available for work.

Henry noted that, because of the transmissibility of Omicron, British Columbians likely won’t have three or four degrees of separation from the virus, and most likely have a friend, family member or colleague who has been infected with the variant.

“Right now, in the tug-of-war of transmission, Omicron has the advantage, and we see that in the rapidly increasing case numbers we’re seeing here and that we’re seeing around the world.”

She said most British Columbians will be exposed to the virus and many will become infected, but urged people to get vaccinated and continue to follow public health measures to reduce the risk of serious illness or further transmission.