Provincial health officials says uncertainty about new variants BA.2
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Mar, 2022 11:05 AM
British Columbia's provincial health officer says there are still some uncertainties about new variants, including B-A-point-2, with some cases present in B-C.
Doctor Bonnie Henry says the province is prepared for a potential uptick in COVID-19 cases during the next respiratory season.
She says the province will integrate wastewater surveillance testing into its regular surveillance of respiratory illness including influenza, and also include other pathogens to get a periodic snapshot of what else may be circulating in communities.
Henry says a decline in hospitalizations, immunity from vaccination and the availability of at-home rapid tests point the way forward to normal activities like high school graduations, which young people need to feel connected to others.
While nearly three-quarters of kids in the Atlantic province have had their first shot, Health Canada says the national average is less than half — a shortfall that in-school vaccination programs could help address, says pediatric infectious disease physician Karina Top.
A Florida man has been charged with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found in Manitoba near the United States border. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said Steve Shand, 47, appeared in court earlier Thursday.
The B.C. government says in a news release that beginning Feb. 1, evacuees receiving Emergency Support Services since the Nov. 15 storms will be offered the expanded help through the Canadian Red Cross.
There are 34,835 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 265,765 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 891 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 119 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The Lillooet Secondary School administration says in a letter to families the wildfire logo holds a different meaning after the fatal blaze that burned through Lytton, and the nearby Elephant Hill fire in 2017 that destroyed more than 100 homes.
Amardip Singh Rai is described as a 42-year-old South Asian Male, 5’11, slim build, with brown eyes, black hair and often has facial hair. He has tattoos including roses on his hands, scroll with words on his neck, a cancer ribbon on his neck and a tiger on his chest.
