Less deadly new strain cause for worry
A new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 has not yet been detected in B.C. or anywhere in Canada, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.
And she said that research so far indicates that COVID-19 vaccines will be effective against the new variant of the coronavirus.
“These changes don’t seem to cause more severe disease and don’t seem to interfere with the ability of vaccines to give people protection,” Henry said this week.
Vaccine shipments have now been made to all health regions across B.C. and inoculations in areas outside the Lower Mainland will begin shortly, Henry said.
The new variant, which has prompted many countries, including Canada, to temporarily shut down air travel with Great Britain, appears to have changes that can quicken its spread, Henry said.
“It does seem to mean that the virus can transmit more easily,” she said. “That’s something we’re trying to figure out and understand.”
The shut-down of air travel between Canada and the U.K. will give scientists here time to fully assess whether the new variant of COVID-19 has spread to this country, Henry said.
“We want to get a better handle of where this might have been, and what measures we need to take to ensure that it doesn’t get introduced and spread widely here in Canada,” she said.
From Friday through Monday, a total of 1,667 new cases of COVID were confirmed across B.C., including 189 in the region served by Interior Health.
Total case counts in B.C have now topped 47,000, with the vast majority of those who were infected having recovered.
However, 41 more deaths, mostly elderly people who had been in long-term care homes, were reported between Friday and Monday, making the toll since the onset of the pandemic 713.
A total of 341 people are currently being treated in B.C. hospitals for COVID-19, with 80 patients in intensive care.
Seven of the deaths announced Monday were in the Interior Health region, bringing the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in this part of the province to 17.