B.C. health authorities have reported four new confirmed COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, totalling 2,601 infections across B.C. to date.
As well, no deaths have been attributed to the illness between Monday and Tuesday, as B.C.’s death toll remains at 165.
Currently, 2,229 people have recovered from the virus, and 207 cases remain active.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, said that British Columbians have been adjusting well to the new way of operating so far, but she understands people may have some concerns.
“It is okay to move slowly, at a pace the works for you given your situation. Understandably, it makes some people a little bit anxious and a bit nervous. For others, we’re just not moving fast enough,” said Henry.
Henry added that the public should be able to feel comfortable going into a business without posing a risk to their health.
“When it comes to businesses having that posted plan, whether online or your front door, is a clear indicator that the business has taken the time to be thoughtful to work through and do their homework on how we can get through this together,” said Henry. “It means we can visit a store, have a meal, enjoy a workout and know that we have the confidence that we are all doing the right things to have those layers of protection in place.”
According to Dr. Henry, while testing is valuable to fighting COVID-19, it is not totally reliable, especially for asymptomatic people or those with mild symptoms. She added that this is why it is important to have other measures and safety precautions in place, such as contact tracing and physical barriers to break the chains of transmission.
“Someone who is negative one day after an exposure, may be positive the next. The tests are not that great at picking that up, especially early on. That’s why testing alone does not insulate a business from needing a plan and for us all to take actions to prevent transmission,” explained Henry. “I know we’ve all been a little frustrated by how long it’s taking for us to get a good, reliable test that can help us do things like find who has antibodies in our community. It’s that risk of having both false positives and false negatives that is taking the time to develop.”
Henry said that as soon as a reliable and accurate test is created by the BCCDC and other Canadian medical labs, it will be made widely available.
