Current wave of B.C.'s pandemic expected to drag on 'for the next few weeks,' province says

Officials in B.C. say current restrictions on gathering and events across the province aren't likely to change for now,with the current wave of the pandemic expected to drag on "for the next few weeks."

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday the province might soon start seeing a decline in cases, but not enough to ease concerns about pressure on the health-care system and wider workforce.

"We're getting the sense that we are levelling off somewhat [with cases] ... But right now, the primary focus needs to bekeeping as much as possible open in our communities," she said Tuesday during a news conference.

Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province is going to provide its next round of case modelling on Friday, which will provide an estimate on the number of COVID-19 cases B.C. could see in the coming weeks.

The current set of public health restrictions on gatheringsisset to expire on Jan. 18.

Hospitalizations rising in B.C.

The province said 469people were in hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, including 97in intensive care. Officials reported 2,239new cases over 24 hours.

The new numbers also confirmed 38 morepatients havegone to hospitalwithin the last 24 hours.

Henry saidthree people in their 20s and another in their 30s are currently among those in intensive care, and all of them are unvaccinated.

"That is a preventable illness. Itcreates a lot of distress for our health-care workers to be caring for young people and seeing them in so much distress when it can be prevented," she said.

"This wave is moving quickly and it means you need to do everything to protect yourself right now."

Watch | Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. isn't planning to make vaccinations mandatory:

No plans for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for everyone in B.C.

3 years ago

Duration 0:54

B.C.s health minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say B.C. has shown strong support for vaccination and doesnt foresee the need to enforce mandatory vaccines for all B.C. residents.

Henry said Tuesdaymany people who have contracted the Omicron variant are fully vaccinated but their illness has been relatively mild compared with those who are unvaccinated and at higher risk of being hospitalized.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases are up by 57.3 per cent sincelast Tuesday, when 298people were in hospital with the disease.

Hospitalizations have more than doubledcompared to a month ago, when 211people were in hospital.

Experts now sayhospitalizations area more accurate barometer of the disease's impact,as new case numbersin B.C. arelikely much higherthan reported, now that the province has hitits testing limit because of the Omicron surge.

Henry anticipated a number of additional treatment options would be available later this month to keep people who are at risk of serious illness out of hospital.

Health Canada signed an agreement with Pfizer last December to provide an initial one million doses of its COVID-19 antiviral pill, but the agency has not yet approved its use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency-use authorization of the five-day regimen last month, and the medication has since been in short supply.

Henry also said she expectsthis wave, driven by Omicron, will peak and pass fasterthan previous waves.

"We tend to see this with any pathogen that has a shorter incubation period. You see this rapidly explosivegrowth and you also see a rapid decrease once a certain level has been reached in the population," she said.

"So just from our prior experience we would expect this to be a shorter wave," she said.

She pointed to case plateaus happening in other countries, like the U.K. and Denmark, as reasons to believe B.C.'s pandemic is levelling off.