B-C has reported one-thousand-79 new cases of COVID-19 over the last three days as the province shortens the interval between first and second doses of vaccine. Invitations are going out for people who may now get their second shot at least 28 days after their first, down from 49 days as health officials aim to curb community outbreaks and rising case counts among people who’ve had just one dose. Nearly 58 per cent of more than three-thousand active infections in B-C are located in the Interior Health region, where public health restrictions have been reinstated. Eighty-two per cent of eligible B-C residents have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while just over 70 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The Squamish Nation will be making an announcement Tuesday morning at the site of a former residential school in North Vancouver. The chiefs of the Musqueam First Nations, as well as a representative from the Arch-diocese of Vancouver, will join members of the Squamish Nation at St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary School. The Keith Road school is the site of a memorial to children who were taken from their families to the St. Paul’s Indian Residential School, which operated between 1899 to 1958. The Roman Catholic School was operated by the federal government and the Order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report on residential schools more than five years ago. The nearly 4,000-page account details the abuse inflicted on Indigenous children after they were taken forcibly from their families to institutions where they were forbidden to speak their language and punished brutally for any attempts to practise their culture. Physical and sexual abuse were rampant. No details have been released about the contents of the announcement, but it comes amid the confirmation of unmarked, undocumented graves at the sites of at several residential school sites in B.C. and Saskatchewan that were operated by the Roman Catholic Church.
U.S. drug maker Moderna will sign an agreement with the Canadian government today promising to build an mRNA production plant in Canada. It is the second major deal Ottawa has made to get mRNA made in Canada in the last three months. Moderna and Ottawa are still negotiating specifics on how much the federal government will contribute to the new plant, along with where it will be built and when. Currently Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are the two mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and neither company can keep up with current demand. But the future demand for mRNA products is expected to be much bigger than just COVID-19. Moderna alone has mRNA products in development for illnesses including influenza, heart disease, cancers, and autoimmune disorders.
Monday has been a big day for a lot of Americans looking forward to in-person reunions with the important Canadians in their lives. At the Peace Arch border crossing, a majority of vehicles with Washington licence plates made their way through while a couple of cars with California, Oregon, and even Texas plates travelled up north after a 17-month ban on non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border. The reopening resulted in a long lineup and about two-hour waits Monday morning. But that traffic jam was nothing compared to how long some people have faced being apart due to the pandemic. One woman tells NEWS 1130, she made her way across to see her family in Delta after not seeing them since COVID-19 hit. Lines at the border crossing finally started to die down as of Monday evening. Fully vaccinated travelers who have recovered from the disease and are otherwise eligible to enter Canada can show proof of a negative molecular test taken between 14 and 90 days prior to crossing the border.
Fraser Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at KinVillage in Tsawwassen. According to a press release issued Monday afternoon (Aug. 9), one resident and one staff member in the long-term care building have tested positive for COVID-19. Both the resident and staff member are currently in self-isolation at their respective homes. KinVillage, located at 5410 10th Ave., is a long-term care, assisted living, independent living and seniors supportive housing campus of care owned and operated by KinVillage Association. The current outbreak is limited to the “West Court” long-term care building. “Fraser Health has worked with the site to support the implementation of enhanced control measures. Fraser Health is also working with the site to identify anyone who may have been exposed, and is taking steps to protect the health of all staff, residents and families,” the press release states. Fraser Health says it has worked with the site to proactively implement measures including supporting staffing levels to maintain resident care, restricting visitors throughout the facility, restricting the movements of staff and residents in the facility, enhancing cleaning and infection control measures, notifying residents, families and staff, and screening all staff and resident for symptoms twice a day.
Heat warnings have now been posted for the inner south Coast from Victoria east to the Fraser Valley and north to the Sunshine Coast and Whistler. Environment Canada says, with humidity, temperatures across the region will feel like the high 30s or even the low 40s further from the water — and there will be little relief at night. Conditions are expected to heat up tomorrow and continue through the weekend. Inland regions of the north and central coast and large parts of the southern Interior remain under special weather statements as the forecasters warn of a heat wave starting Thursday in areas where some of B-C’s largest wildfires are currently blazing. (The Canadian Press)
The dangerous White Rock Lake wildfire in the B-C interior continues to burn out of control, with evacuation orders still standing for the communities of Monte Lake and Westwold. The B-C Wildfire Service says five more fires were sparked over the last two days, but the total number has dipped to about 260. Environment Canada has issued special weather statements covering large parts of the province where the fires have been raging, calling for heat in the mid-to-high-30s, with little overnight relief until the weekend.
Gas price expert Dan McTeague says prices at the pump will largely depend on how the Delta variant of COVID-19 plays out. The president of Canadians for Affordable Energy says he expects prices to hover around their current mark if COVID-19 continues to rise. But with continued issues around crude oil supply, gas prices could go even higher when Delta variant cases plateau. The price of crude oil peaked this year in early July, when it went above US$75 per barrel and sent gas prices in cities like Vancouver to highs of $1.74 per litre.
BC health officials announced 395 new test-positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 153,313. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 3,284 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 71 individuals are currently hospitalized, 23 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
New and total active cases, broken down by health region, are as follows:
- Fraser Health: 100 new cases, 619 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 61 new cases, 430 total active cases
- Interior Health: 187 new cases, 1,893 total active cases
- Northern Health: 15 new cases, 111 total active cases
- Island Health: 31 new cases, 218 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: One new case, 13 total active cases
There have been no new COVID-19-related deaths over the past 24 hours, for a total of 1,777 deaths in British Columbia. To date, 82.1% of all eligible people 12 and over have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In total, 7,070,897 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in BC. 148,215 people who tested positive have now recovered.