B.C. stops indoor dining and religious gatherings, closes Whistler as COVID-19 cases rise

By The Canadian Press

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s provincial health officer says she has imposed a three-week “circuit breaker” on some activities to stop an “exponential growth” of COVID-19 cases in the province.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says starting at midnight until April 19, indoor dining and activity at fitness centres are paused, while the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort will be closed as cases spread in the community.

Only last week, Henry eased restrictions on indoor religious services, but that has also been reversed.

She says the province will also be updating its mask-wearing mandate in all schools for children from grades 4 to 12.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce this – this is something that we have worked carefully with faith leaders, of all faiths, and it is something that I know was important for people,” Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday.

“I was very hopeful, even as late as last week, that we would be able to get through this next few weeks, keeping where we were. And it really has been the dramatic increase in the last five or six days that has shown us we’re on a trajectory … which worried me because when you have 500 cases a day, the probability of it going up exponentially is much higher.”

“So it really is a race in time if we will between being able to keep cases low enough, and our vaccine protecting more and more people. But it takes time for the vaccine to have that optimal protection,” she added.

Henry says despite increased testing, contact tracing, and other measures taken by Vancouver Coastal and the community, transmission continues in the Whistler area.

“…And we’re starting to see cases increase again in that community, and particularly in the past week, with the more worrisome cluster of the P.1 Brazil variant of concern,” she said Monday.

As a result of the mounting concern, Whistler Blackcomb will be closed until at least April 19, when the other measures are also set to expire.

B.C. is also following other jurisdictions and suspending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for the next few days for those under age 55 over concerns it may be linked to rare blood clots.\

B.C. recorded more than 2,500 cases in the last three days, which Premier John Horgan says is unacceptably high, and he urged those aged 20 to 39 years old to curb their activities to protect their parents and neighbours.


With files from 1130 News

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