B.C. officials report 15 new COVID-19 cases, three new deaths
The B.C. Dental Association says its members’ offices won’t be open for service until it gets further direction on protecting patients and staff from COVID-19.
A statement from the association says full dental services will be introduced gradually and when it’s safe to do so — not by Tuesday, when the B.C. government has said services such as elective surgeries, dentistry, physiotherapy and speech therapy may resume.
Association spokesman Dr. Alastair Nicoll said dental teams want to ensure their infection-control practices are appropriate for the requirements of COVID-19.
Guidelines for various sectors, including dentistry, are being developed. They are expected to be published by the end of the week.
In her daily COVID-19 update, Dr. Bonnie Henry acknowledged the next phase of B.C.’s pandemic fight comes with uncertainty, and will be a careful, cautious process.
“We will be progressing slowly,” said Henry, the provincial health officer. “As we know, the incubation period for this virus is 14 days. So it will take us the next 14 to 28 days to understand the impact of the measures that we’re taking in the coming week.
“I do not expect that everything is going to be open,” she said, “and it certainly is not going to be open in the same way that it was in
December, for example.”
B.C. health officials reported 15 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday, and three more deaths. The figures bring confirmed cases in the province to 2,392 and total deaths to 135.
Henry also addressed fears of a mysterious inflammatory illness in some children that resembles Kawasaki syndrome, and is potentially associated with COVID-19.
“We have not had any children yet in British Columbia who have experienced this syndrome,” she said, adding that evidence continues to suggest children are less likely to get infected with COVID-19 and less likely to have severe symptoms.
Health officials also confirmed outbreaks of COVID19 at four facilities were over.
Fraser Health officials have rescinded the April 24 closure order at Superior Poultry Processors, whose outbreak last month grew to at least 50 cases before the plant was shut down and workers sent home.
The plant has met the requirements of the order, health officials said Thursday, and has reopened with new safety measures in place.
Officials also announced Thursday that outbreaks are over at the Swedish Assisted Living Residence in Burnaby, the Chartwell Cedarbrooke Retirement Residence in Mission, and the Worthington Pavilion rehabilitation unit in Abbotsford.”