COVID-19 in B.C.: Update on child cases; new measures in Fraser Health; booster shots for longterm care; and more

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      Today, active cases decreased while hospitalized cases increased—the opposite of what happened over the weekend.

      Active cases decreased in Fraser Health and Northern Health while increasing in Vancouver Coastal Health, Interior Health and Island Health—also the inverse of the weekend.

      B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix held an in-person briefing today (September 28) to provide updates about several issues, including booster shots for seniors, cases among children and youth, and new health orders due to rising case numbers in Fraser Health.

      Booster shots

      Despite vaccinations of residents in all longterm care facilities in the province, outbreaks and deaths have continued to occur in those healthcare settings.

      That’s because, as Henry has explained at previous briefings, older people can have lower immune system responses to vaccinations compared to those who are younger.

      Today, she said that a “significant number” of longterm care residents are continuing to have “breakthrough infections” (COVID-19 cases among those who are vaccinated), which she added can be lethal in an elderly population.

      Accordingly, Henry announced today that residents in longterm care facilities will also now receive a third dose.

      She said that these doses will begin being administered next week, and will be given in addition to the influenza vaccine.

      Previously, Henry had announced that “clinically extremely vulnerable individuals with certain immune compromising conditions” will receive a third dose, and those immunizations are now underway.

      Children and youth

      Henry said that there has been an increase in child cases in the past week compared to what has been observed over the course of the pandemic.

      She stated that the numbers of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population are increasing “quite dramatically” among younger school-aged children who aren’t vaccinated, including those who are 5 to 11 years old. She said there were increases in cases among those 12 to 17 years old but that has leveled off.

      As she has explained in the past, what is happening in schools reflects what is occurring in communities.

      Henry said that the most of the school-aged children who are testing positive are in the Fraser East region, which is an area of Fraser Health that has the lowest rates of immunization and where cases are rising among adults, as well as one part of Island Health.

      In addition, she pointed out that parts of the B.C. Interior with lower immunization rates are where children are being affected.

      Meanwhile, she said that Vancouver Coastal Health and most of Island Health have had low cases rates among children, where there are high vaccination rates.

      Thus far during the pandemic, there have only been two deaths among children: an infant and toddler in the 0 to 4 age group, who both died last year. There haven’t been any deaths among school-aged children.

      She said that they aren’t seeing any increases in hospitalizations or deaths among children—but she added “we need to make sure that doesn’t happen”.

      Accordingly, she emphasized the need for vaccinations among all those who are eligible to do so, in order to prevent transmission to children.

      As of today, regional health authorities will begin posting potential exposure events at schools on their websites, as was done last year.

      What will be different this year is that the health authorities won’t be sending out letters to all schools if there is a potential exposure event, which she said was not effective in decreasing transmission in schools.

      New health orders in Fraser Health

      Previously, the Central Okanagan and Northern B.C. were identified as hotspots of concern where cases were rapidly rising.

      Now a new region has been identified, and new health measures are being introduced there.

      Due to an increase in cases in the Eastern Fraser Valley, Henry announced a new regional public health order for the area, effective today, and includes Hope, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, and Aggasiz-Harrison.

      The new health measures include:

      • private gatherings are now limited to five additional people or one additional household;
      • a maximum of 10 people outdoors unless all participants are fully vaccinated;
      • organized events limited to 10 people inside or 50 people outside, unless all participants are vaccinated;
      • all outdoor adult sports will be limited to 50 participants, unless all are vaccinated.

      Consequently, the B.C. Vaccine Card requirement for two doses by October 26 has been advanced to today in the Fraser East region.

      Also, all event organizers must keep a contact list of guests.

      Henry added that as increased transmission has been occurring in workplaces in the region, masks must be worn in all indoor workplaces and the need for safety plans will be emphasized.

      B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix
      Province of British Columbia

      B.C. update: September 28

      As on previous days, the B.C. Health Ministry stated that today’s numbers of total and new cases are provisional due to a delayed data refresh.

      Today, the B.C. Health Ministry is reporting 652 new COVID-19 cases.

      Currently, there are 5,992 active cases, which is a drop of 106 cases since yesterday.

      The new and active cases include:

      • 219 new cases in Fraser Health, with 2,249 total active cases (31 fewer cases than yesterday);
      • 162 new cases in Interior Health, with 1,176 total active cases (17 more cases than yesterday);
      • 117 new cases in Northern Health, with 929 total active cases (235 fewer cases);
      • 82 new cases in Island Health, with 677 total active cases (20 more cases);
      • 70 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, with 903 total active cases (60 more cases);
      • two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada, with 58 total active cases (two more cases).

      With 13 more cases than yesterday, there are 316 individuals in hospital today, and 141 of those patients are in intensive care units (one fewer than yesterday—yesterday’s ICU number was updated to 142).

      Sadly, two new deaths (both in Island Health) have been reported, which brings the overall total fatalities to 1,942 people who have died of COVID-19-related reasons.

      With 759 recoveries since yesterday, an overall total of 177,113 people who tested positive have recovered.

      B.C. has reported a cumulative total of 185,432 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

      Vaccinations

      Since December, B.C. has administered 7,812,228 doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines.

      As of today, 87.8 percent (4,068,060) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 80.6 percent (3,736,540) have received their second dose.

      In addition, 88.3 percent (3,818,166) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 81.4 percent (3,521,271) have received their second dose.

      According to the B.C. Health Ministry, people not vaccinated are 26.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated (after factoring for age).

      From September 20 to 26, people who aren’t fully vaccinated accounted for 72.2 percent of COVID-19 cases. From September 13 to 26, they accounted for 82.5 percent of hospitalizations.

      Outbreaks and exposures

      Fraser Health declared an outbreak at Willingdon Care Centre in Burnaby, where one resident has tested positive.

      Northern Health declared an outbreak at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, where four patients have tested positive.

      The B.C. Health Ministry also stated that an outbreak has been declared at Village by the Station in Penticton and the outbreak at Fort St. John Hospital has been declared over.

      Currently, there are 22 active outbreaks in healthcare facilities.

      The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added the following 19 flights to its lists of potential public exposures:

      • September 1: WestJet 3294, Kelowna to Calgary;
      • September 15: WestJet 718, Vancouver to Toronto;
      • September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8218, Vancouver to Cranbrook;
      • September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8219, Cranbrook to Vancouver;
      • September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8408, Vancouver to Kelowna;
      • September 19: Air Canada/Jazz 8415, Kelowna to Vancouver;
      • September 20: Air Canada 251, Edmonton to Vancouver;
      • September 20: Air Canada 1055, Phoenix to Vancouver;
      • September 20: Air Canada 8293, Castlegar to Vancouver;
      • September 20: WestJet 689, Saskatoon to Vancouver;
      • September 22: Air Canada 245, Edmonton to Vancouver;
      • September 22: Air Canada/Jazz 8234, Vancouver to Terrace;
      • September 22: WestJet 175, Edmonton to Vancouver;
      • September 22: WestJet 3153, Calgary to Nanaimo;
      • September 23: Air Canada 997, Mexico City to Vancouver;
      • September 23: Flair Air 153, Toronto to Abbotsford;
      • September 23: WestJet 615, Ottawa to Vancouver;
      • September 23: WestJet 1697, Los Angeles to Vancouver;
      • September 24: WestJet 701, Toronto to Vancouver. 
      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on Facebook.

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