Author of the article: Date of publication: 5 Apr 2022 • 53 minutes ago • 4 minutes reading • 51 Comments The Minister of Health Adrian Dix, Dr. Bonnie Henry, provide an update on COVID-19. Photo by CHAD HIPOLITO / The Canadian Press
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BC health workers prepare for a spring reminiscence program targeting the elderly and caregivers are ecstatic that the province will offer a second COVID-19 booster dose to the elderly over 70 and to immunocompromised people, but other changes in way in which the pandemic will be managed and reported raises concerns.
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Provincial Health Director Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday that seniors in care homes and assisted living facilities, people over the age of 70 and 100,000 immunocompromised people in BC will be eligible for a fourth vaccination this month. “We know that the older we get, the faster our antibodies weaken,” Henry explained. “So an extra boost right now will provide this spring protection so we can get back to more community activities.” Terry Lake, CEO of the BC Caregivers Association, said the second boost campaign was just in time. “In about a week people (in care homes) will be six months away from receiving their first souvenir, so this is very timely and we are excited to hear it,” he said.
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However, Lake is concerned that because the public health office has changed the way the COVID-19 epidemic is reported, people are unable to assess the risk of contracting the virus. “The problem is the lack of transparency,” Lake said. “Even if you do not call it an outbreak, then at least it would be appropriate to list homes that have COVID cases on the health authority’s website, something they do if there is a virus or flu in a facility. “But they do not do that with COVID unless they decide it is an outbreak.” Others are frustrated by Henry’s announcement that, as of Friday, the BC vaccine card will no longer be required to enter certain stores and facilities, and that the vaccination order for college students living on campus will also expire. This follows the end of the mask mandate for indoor public spaces almost a month ago.
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Kyenta Martins, a mother of two from Vancouver who suffers from COPD, a disease that weakens the lungs, said lifting the restrictions would mean she would not go indoors and limit shopping in the early morning hours when she said she saw more people wearing masks. Martins said the changes make her feel less valued by other citizens. “We’ve heard Dr. Henry say that a very small percentage of the population will get sick, but we still care and it’s worth making people use a painless protection – wearing a mask – that provides support to so many at risk,” he said. Martins. However, Henry insisted that maintaining public health orders would do more harm than good. “There is no magic moment where there will be zero risk,” he said, noting that high vaccination rates and encouraging mask use and social distance are preferable to provincial health orders.
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Henry added that the public reporting of cases would be reduced to once a week, starting Thursday. Dr Tara Moriarty, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Toronto, described the changes in data reporting as “problematic”. “There is a very good chance that BC will soon see a big fat wave and the loss of daily reporting means that people are not going to know what is going on,” Moriarty said. “And if they knew, they could make decisions about wearing their mask and knowing what was going on could make a difference in what would happen to this sixth wave.” Moriarty also wondered what prompted the province to announce that it would start reporting the number of deaths differently in the future.
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Henry said the death reports would now include people who tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of death, in addition to those whose deaths were caused by COVID-19. These data will be adjusted later to remove those cases where COVID was determined not to be the immediate cause of death. Henry could not explain whether those who actually died from COVID-19 would be listed separately. Instead, it promised a technical update in the future to explain to reporters how the system would work. Moriarty said the number of BC deaths from COVID-19 was not reported. He believes that 1,000 more people have died from the Omicron variant than has been reported so far, and wondered if the new system would provide more clarity. “It’s not beneficial for people to be able to assess their own risk. “It only benefits leaders who want to say ‘we’re doing better than we really are,’” he said. “There is no downside to providing good information to people, especially if you are going to make them responsible for anything related to the pandemic. More news, fewer ads, faster upload time: Get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, the National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites for just $ 14 / month or $ 140 / year. Register now through The Vancouver Sun or The Province.
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