Province cracking down on non-essential journey

The province will crack down on non-essential travel later this week, Prime Minister John Horgan announced on Monday.

Current public health measures will be extended until May 25, the day after the long May weekend, Horgan said. The British Columbia tourism industry has voluntarily agreed to cancel existing reservations and not accept new reservations for individuals traveling outside their home community for vacation or other non-essential travel during their period, including those outside the province.

“On Friday (Public Safety Secretary Mike Farnsworth) will give orders to prevent people from leaving their local health department,” Horgan said. “Stay in your territory, stay in your community. If you travel there will be a fine.”

The province will post signs on the Alberta border informing travelers that BC does not welcome visitors outside of the province, campsites in BC parks will cancel reservations, and the police will be asked to conduct random checks – similar to the checkstop police -Program behavior during the holiday season. BC Ferries will not allow recreational vehicles on board and will conduct similar checks for non-essential travel, Horgan said.

The aim is to crack down on those who “flaunt the rules,” not people who live in one health agency and work in another or have to travel for substantial reasons, he said.

“All of these measures are aimed at bringing all British Columbians, all 4.9 million, to the end of this pandemic. They are carried out with a heavy heart but with a determined purpose,” said Horgan. “Our appeal to people is to do the right thing and only plan a vacation after the long weekend in May.”

Horgan urged all British Columbians to think about the medical staff who have been battling this pandemic for over a year and who are once again struggling with hospitalizations.

“Our nurses, our nurses, our doctors didn’t stop to party on the beach,” said Horgan. “We can’t thank you enough, but we can say for the next five weeks we’re by your side.”

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has put pressure on the 20 hospitals in the province that treat COVID patients – including the Northern BC University Hospital

Hospitals have been forced to use their surge capacity and use staff and resources from other areas to treat COVID patients, he said. This has resulted in some planned, non-urgent proceedings being abandoned.

In the Northern Health region, 95 percent of normal hospital beds are full and 6.8 percent of surge beds in the region are full.

“What happens in hospitals depends on what we all do,” said Dix.

ASTRAZENECA EXTENSION

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced Monday that the 88,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, available through pharmacies in British Columbia, will be available to all British Columbians aged 40 and over. The vaccine used to be available only to those over the age of 55, but new guidelines from Health Canada have allowed the province to extend eligibility to those over 39.

The risk of blood clots from the vaccine is very small – one in 250,000 – compared to the two to four percent change in hospitalization with COVID-19, Henry said.

“I am confident that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks,” said Henry.

The UK, which has administered millions of doses, shows that a single dose of AstraZeneca provides excellent protection, similar to that of the Pfizer vaccine.

On Monday, Horgan said he got his recording from AstraZeneca a few days ago and is fine.

In addition to expanding its pharmacy-based vaccination campaign, the province will use 75,000 US AstraZeneca to run vaccination clinics for anyone over 40 in high-risk communities, including Dawson Creek.

As of Monday, a total of 1.38 million vaccine doses had been administered in the province – that’s roughly 30 percent of the adult population, Henry said. With the offer anticipated by the federal government, BC should be able to provide a single dose to 60 percent of the adult population by the end of May and 100 percent of the adult population by July 1. The aim is to have second cans available to all British Columbians by September.

Information from the UK and Israel ahead of Canada in their vaccination campaigns shows case numbers drop significantly within 14 to 21 days of immunizing a population, Henry said.

“We expect transmission to decline by the end of April,” said Henry.

“A TRUE TRAGEDY”

There were eight new COVID-related deaths in BC over the weekend, including three new deaths in the Northern Health area. The province’s death toll from the pandemic rose to 1,538, including 136 people in the north.

The pandemic also claimed its youngest victim in BC, Henry said.

“We had a child with COVID under the age of two who died, she said.” It reminds us of the malicious nature of this virus. “

While the child who lived in the Fraser Health area already had health problems, “it was the virus that killed the child,” she said.

“It’s an unusual occurrence,” said Henry. “It is a real tragedy.”

100 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Northern Health area over the weekend. This is based on data published by the BC Center for Disease Control.

The number of active cases in the north dropped below 300 to 390. 15 people remained hospitalized in the region with COVID-19, including 10 in intensive care.

In the north, a total of 71,069 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered, including 2,911 seconds.