inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
mosquito-borne diseases affect up to 700 million people each year. learn more
powered by: valneva canada inc.
home / 世界杯决赛2022

covid-19: five things to know about omicron and the new b.c. health measures

here are five things to know about the new information provided by dr. bonnie henry, the provincial health officer, and health minister adrian dix on tuesday.

by joseph ruttle

dec 22 2021
read time 4 minute read
join the conversation
british columbians are being asked to restrict gatherings and social contacts to decrease their risk of exposure to covid-19, in response to the rapid increase in cases linked to the more transmissible omicron variant.
provincial health officer dr. bonnie henry acknowledges the public has grown weary of the pandemic and says she knows today’s news is “disappointing and discouraging.”
“we’ve done all the right things, but the challenge that we have is that this virus doesn’t recognize that,” says henry. “it has changed and so must we.”
here are five things to know about the new information provided by henry and health minister adrian dix on tuesday.

1. what exactly are the new health measures?

the following measures are in place starting at midnight on dec. 22 and will be in effect until at least jan. 18:
• personal gatherings are limited to your household and one other household or 10 guests, provided everyone in attendance is vaccinated. “you need to keep your groups as small as possible and it needs to be the same group of people,” says henry, not a different household each night.
• organized indoor gatherings such as wedding receptions, banquets and holiday parties are banned in both public and private spaces.
powered by
canadian centre for caregiving excellence

advertisement

• all indoor venues such as concert halls, movie theatres and sports arenas are to operate at a maximum of 50 per cent capacity. venues must check the b.c. vaccine card using a qr code reader.
• gyms, fitness centres and dance studios are closed.
• bars and nightclubs are closed, while pubs, restaurants and cafes must limit the number of people at each table to six. there is to be no mingling among tables and masks should be worn whenever possible.
• as announced earlier, all sports tournaments in b.c. are cancelled.

2. what do we know so far about the omicron variant in b.c. and beyond?

as henry has said before, “there are still many things we don’t about omicron and its (potential) effects on our health system.” she describes it as a “puzzle” that still has several key pieces missing.
however, watching the rise in cases around the world and in b.c., it’s become clear that “it is spreading rapidly and is more transmissible than delta. we’re seeing it rapidly replace delta as the dominant variant.”
omicron is driving a quick rise in cases especially in vancouver coastal health, fraser health and island health.
it has been responsible for more “explosive outbreaks” of large numbers of people in other jurisdictions such as the u.k. and quebec due to its ease of transmission.
powered by
obesity matters

advertisement

it is also more capable of infecting those who have been exposed to earlier variants of covid-19 and those who have been vaccinated, though that appears to help immensely in preventing serious illness from it.
so far, the rise of omicron has not corresponded to a jump in hospitalizations, but henry warns that is a “lagging indicator. we’ve seen in other jurisdictions those things can take off quite rapidly.”
the health measures being brought in dec. 23 are “about buying us time to understand (omicron) and to prepare.”
motorists line up at the saint vincent’s covid testing site in richmond on sunday as the omicron variant continues to spread throughout b.c.
motorists line up at the saint vincent’s covid testing site in richmond on sunday as the omicron variant continues to spread throughout b.c. nick procaylo / png

3. what about using more rapid antigen tests?

rapid tests have been used extensively in a targeted way, says henry, not offered up freely to the public.
priority has been given to long-term care and acute care, including doing rapid tests of staff and visitors as they come and go, as well as in remote first nations communities, post-secondary schools and large industrial work camps.
henry says there are millions more rapid antigen tests, mostly nasal swabs, on order by the end of january and they will be used primarily in settings where people have already shown symptoms.
she warns that quick tests are “red lights, not green lights.” in other words, a positive test tells us we need to isolate and avoid contact with others, but a negative result doesn’t mean we’re free to ignore public health measures.

4. what does recent covid modelling tell us about omicron?

advertisement

henry concedes “the modelling is dramatically different than even what we showed last week” due to omicron’s rapid rise.
cases are increasing quickly in vancouver coastal health, fraser health and island health especially, and the bulk of new cases are among the younger 18 to 59 age groups, due to their more widespread contacts through work and school.
the reproduction number — the number of people infected by each person exposed to the virus — has jumped to around two. one had been the target number to slow the spread of covid-19.
henry says omicron’s ease of transmission means “it is very likely over time that all of us will have exposure to this (variant).” the key is to make that happen as slowly as possible.

5. are we going to speed up the booster program?

health minister dix says b.c. continues to have one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world, but boosters will be sped up significantly in the coming weeks due to omicron.
so far, 67 per cent of those 70 and older and more than half of those over 65 have received third shots, while another 65,000 health-care workers and 125,000 vulnerable people have got their boosters.
though b.c. will continue with age-based boosters, vaccination capacity is being ramped up by 62 per cent — including in coastal health where the vancouver convention centre has been secured as a vaccine facility, and in fraser health with a site in guildford.

advertisement

pharmacies and health clinics will have quicker access to vaccines and boosters as well, and a mobile strategy is being ramped up in northern health.

g et the latest covid-19 news delivered to your inbox weeknights at 7 p.m. by subscribing to our newsletter here.

click here to report a typo.

is there more to this story? we’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. email vantips@postmedia.com.

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.