British Columbia is implementing some more COVID-19 restrictions in the wake of a surge in cases of the Omicron variant.
These new rules that take effect on Thursday include no indoor organized gatherings of any size such as weddings and receptions until Jan. 18, 2022.
Further, all bars and nightclubs are being ordered to close, as are all fitness centres, gyms, and dance studios.
In restaurants, you’ll be allowed no more than six people at a together once again with physical distancing and the return of barriers separating tables.
All seated events will also be reduced to half capacity regardless of venue size, instead of the previous order from Friday which came into effect on Monday that only affected venues with more than 1,000 seats.
“These are not going to prevent the virus from spreading entirely but it is going to help us slow it down and we need to take these actions to protect people who are more likely to have severe illness,” Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday.
“It is inevitable now that most of us in the province will be exposed [to Omicron] at some point.”
She also noted that B.C.’s testing capacity is being stretched right now by people who in many cases want to get a test before they socialize with family and friends over the holidays.
“We need to preserve our testing capacity for people for whom it makes a difference,” Henry added. “So if you do not have symptoms of COVID-19, then do not go to a testing centre.”
Henry says one good thing to this point about the current increase in case numbers is that we are not seeing an increase in hospitalization.
As of Monday’s COVID update, there were 5,435 active cases across B.C. (648 in Interior Health) with 185 people in hospital with COVID-19, 77 in intensive care.
Rapid Testing
Henry also announced the expansion of rapid testing across B.C.
She says the province is expecting to get 200,000 PANBIO rapid tests (nasal swab kits) from the federal government by the end of the year, noting B.C has also bought 500,000 BTNX rapid tests with nasal swabs that are expected to arrive in late December.
“B.C. is expecting delivery of a significant volume of tests in mid/late January 2022. Canada has indicated that 84 million tests from five different manufacturers are expected to arrive in the country for provinces and territories,” she said. “Of these, 10 million expected for “at home” use (Roche SD Biosensor).”
“[We] have requested 13.5 per cent or at least 11 million of the 84 million expected tests from the Government of Canada.”
According to Dr. Henry, the province has received more than 3.1 million tests and distributed about 1.2 million to long-term care facilities, Indigenous communities and various businesses.
Booster Campaign
B.C. has also administered 727,761 booster shots to date, including 67 per cent of people older than 70 years old. As it stands, about 65,000 healthcare workers have received their booster.
Cancelled Surgeries
As well, the province will also be postponing scheduled surgeries as of Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 to manage pressures on hospital capacity by redeploying key staff across the province to ensure there is enough hospital capacity amid concerns about the rise in Omicron cases.
More to come
