BC sees active cases decline
By Lauren Gargiulo, News Editor
Active COVID-19 cases in BC are on a decline since September 21, making many people question the need to continue COVID-19 protective measures and maintain small bubbles.
In her daily briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry said, “This is not a time to be complacent.” Henry, also addressed British Columbian’s concerns for Thanksgiving dinners: “I think Thanksgiving is an important time for us to remember and give thanks for those who we are closest to, and we’ve been talking about that quite a bit. There’s no reason at all why you can’t have Thanksgiving with your household bubble, your contacts, your close, small number of people.”
Henry spoke to the upcoming complications of the fall as well: “We need to remember as we go into cough and cold and flu season that it’s going to be very challenging for us to figure out what is COVID, what is influenza, what is just a cold.”
According to CTV, there are many similar symptoms for COVID-19, Influenzas, and a common cold. The World Health Organization says that people experiencing “severe chest pain, a significant shortness of breath or a loss of speech and movement” must seek immediate medical attention as those symptoms are severe. The most common symptoms are a dry cough and a fever, others include fatigue, difficulty breathing, a loss of taste or smell, a sore throat, and aches and pains. There is a helpful comparison chart here.
As of September 25, there are 1,349 active cases of COVID-19 in BC with 98 of those new since September 24. Sixty-two cases are hospitalized with 19 in intensive care. There are currently 10 long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities that are dealing with active COVID-19 cases.
On September 21, Victoria News reported that BC had the most active cases per capita in Canada at 1,803 (36 per 100,000). By September 27, the active cases dropped to 1,375 and are continuing to go down.
As the active cases continue to drop, Henry and BC’s deputy minister of health, Stephen Brown released a joint statement on September 25 reminding people that the upcoming cold weather could be a challenge, calling for British Columbians to “take a step back from connecting in person to staying connected in other, safer ways.”
Currently, BC is in phase three of the province’s four phase plan. Phase three includes “smart, safe, and respectful” travel within BC, as well as “carefully expanded” bubbles. “Stepping back from our social interactions does not mean losing touch,” Henry and Brown said in their joint statement. “Rather, you can continue to reach out to friends near and far with the many tools we have available to us to connect virtually.”
