BC COVID-19: Transit masks, air travel problems, Bravo to British Columbians

Consistent with the number of new cases over the past week, the number of new cases confirmed today (16 July) remained above 20.

Prior to today’s daily BC COVID-19 update, British State Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry revealed findings that the state asserted to be effective in mitigating the spread of the virus. ..

Meanwhile, BC Coroners Service has released its June Illegal Drugs Report. As in May, the state recorded a record death toll, with 175 dead in June.

Dr. Henry said about 80% are men between the ages of 19 and 49. Two-thirds lived in their own homes, often alone. And, in most cases, the people closest to them were unaware of their drug use.

“This is a tragedy for all of us,” Dr. Henry said of death and the ongoing crisis. And that is another public health emergency in the state in addition to the pandemic.

More coverage of this subject is coming Georgia straight paper.

Dr. Henry today announced that there are 21 new COVID-19 cases (18 tested positive, 3 epilink cases).

During the pandemic, a cumulative total of 3,170 cases were identified throughout the state. One of them is 1,028 from Vancouver Coastal Health. 1,667 for Fraser Health; 136 for Island Health. 223 interior health. Northern Health 65. 51 people living outside of Canada.

There are 192 active cases, including 15 patients in hospital (and 3 in the intensive care unit).

Even if there are no new medical outbreaks, there are still three active outbreaks. Two are long-term care facilities and the other is an emergency room. Outbreaks of health care are associated with 655 cases involving 400 inhabitants and 255 staff.

There is no new community outbreak.

Dr. Henry said there were 27 cases associated with the Kelowna bombings between June 25 and July 6. Of these cases, 18 are from the inland health area and 9 are from the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health areas.

In addition, there are currently four cases related to the outbreak of a vibrant community on Oliver’s Crazy Cherry Farm.

Here too, the good news is that no new deaths have occurred. The total death toll remains at 189.

Currently, a total of 2,789 people are recovering.

This morning, Dr. Henry announced the results of antibody research conducted in the state in January and February.

The study was a collaborative effort by the BC Center for Disease Control (BCCDC), UBC, and LifeLabs and included serology.

Unlike tests that are used to determine whether people are currently infected with COVID-19, serological tests are those that have been infected in the past and then recovered, producing antibodies (produced by the immune system in response to the virus). Is used) for people who have developed.

Dr. Henry explained that it takes two to six weeks for antibodies to develop after infection.

“actually, [antibody tests] It’s completely untrustworthy early on, so to fully understand what happened in the community, you’ll have to wait at least a month after the majority of the outbreak. “

She said the report obtained was the first of its kind to be published in Canada, and information of this kind is difficult to obtain.

The results will help she understand the effects of the virus on British Columbians, she explained. Testing wasn’t easy, especially by letting you know how many people might have been infected in the past in March when hundreds of British Colombians returned from abroad, making it available in all regions of the state. Yes, the COVID-19 test criteria were limited to high-risk groups.

She collected 1,000 samples from a lab in Lower Mainland, which is “the highest risk area in the state” and has the highest number of cases, tested in two different time periods (March and May), Virus.

The study did not consider residents of nursing homes, but said the results span the age group of 10.

Dr. Henry said the results show that less than 1 percent of people are estimated to be infected in British Columbia (she found similar studies elsewhere 11 percent in Spain and New York. Said 14% of the city revealed in a particular time frame.

Therefore, BCCDC’s Dr. Danuta Skowronski said that less than 1 in 100 inhabitants of Lower Mainland were infected during the first wave, and these results reinforce previous findings. Therefore, she said the prevalence of communities in other parts of the state would be even lower.

Therefore, Dr. Henry said that about eight times more people have the virus in the state than those who test positive.

Dr. Skolonski said the results she didn’t expect to be so low were “fun, happy surprises,” and “better than expected.”

“A big Bravo for British Colombians,” she said. “They show success in containing SARS-CoV-2. [the virus that causes COVID-19] In other parts of our community, as you know, the transmission of viruses is much higher. ”

She added that British Columbians need to continue their health precautions because of the presence of the virus, while she commends everyone’s contributions.

“The flip side is not being able to rest on the laurels,” she said. “We can’t assume that we’re completely clear. This also means that the population is still quite vulnerable.”

Instead of further randomized serologic testing of the general population, Dr. Henry explores ways to conduct more targeted tests to identify those who are “most affected by the virus over the last few months.” Said that. Use the results of online local survey results to identify a specific profession, ethnic group, socio-economic group, or geographical group.

Dr. Henry said that if a researcher has an antibody, whether a person becomes immune to the coronavirus, or how long a researcher still has the antibody, the researcher still does not know. Revealed that there is no.

As reported earlier today, four round trips to BC confirmed As linked to the case of COVID-19.

Dr. Henry further elaborated on what she said earlier about the lack of useful information provided by airlines to the public health team about passengers.

She said flight manifest information, a document containing a list of passengers, was long lacking information to help track and contact people who may have been exposed to the virus.

She explained that it would be useful if the airlines got passenger names, phone numbers, and addresses.

“The address is very important. It helps us understand where to look for that person. Once we have that, we can quickly find the person and stop the chain of communication. Air travel will be safer.”

She said airlines could implement a system like restaurants do by recording contact information for every guest.

Meanwhile, she was asked if she would wear a mask during transit.

“I absolutely believe that everyone in transit should wear a mask,” she began, “forcing the wearing of a mask is a challenge unfortunate events related to people”. I explained that it was a challenge.

She added that it can be difficult to distinguish who can and cannot wear a mask for a variety of reasons.

However, in order to dispel misconceptions and misconceptions about the mask, it was revealed that the mask can be safely worn.

“They don’t make you hypoxic [a condition caused by deprivation of oxygen]It does not increase the risk of trapping viruses or bacteria. It does not worsen asthma or other lung conditions,” she said.

She added that it may take some time for the mask to get used to and comfortable.

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