CRITICAL MASS
Dix issues warning there will be no tolerance for mass gatherings as virus cases surge
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix warned Thursday there will be no tolerance of mass gatherings as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in British Columbia.
In particular, he pointed to private parties in public places, saying if such gatherings take place this weekend, in a banquet hall, for example, attendees should expect a visit from public health or environmental officials.
The parties may not be immediately shut down, but there will be consequences, said Dix.
“It’s our expectation that the limits on the number of people at parties will be in place this weekend everywhere in B.C.,” said Dix.
He also urged people not to organize parties at private properties with alcohol and no limits on the number of people. If you are invited to a party like this, don’t go, he said.
The B.C. government banned all gatherings of more than 50 people in March as part of a package of restrictive measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The restrictive measures also included closing pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, which were later lifted, and helped to reduce the rate of increase of the virus, a so-called flattening of the curve. But the rate of spread is increasing again, with 78 new confirmed cases announced Thursday, bringing the total in the province to 4,274.
That follows 85 new cases reported Wednesday, 46 on Tuesday and 44 on Monday.
In May and June, daily case numbers rarely climbed above 20 and were often below 10.
Although an outbreak in July in Kelowna caused an increase in COVID-19 cases in the Interior Health region, three quarters of cases have been in Metro Vancouver.
Provincial health officials’ concern over large social gatherings is a result of a shift in the age of people being infected to a younger group.
The 20-29 age group in particular, and also the 30-39 age group, account for a greater proportion of cases than they account for in the general population, according to statistical information released by the province on Thursday.
The two age groups — which make up 27 per cent of the population — accounted for more than half of COVID19 cases confirmed between June 24 and Aug. 8.
The surge in cases hasn’t resulted in a corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths because young people are less likely to get seriously ill, said B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.
No person under 40 has died in British Columbia from the coronavirus.
However, there is a concern the increase in cases among younger people will eventually spill over into the moreat-risk population that includes older people, as it has with a new surge of cases in nursing homes in the U.S.
Younger people are also not immune from getting severely ill and can sometimes suffer symptoms, including severe fatigue, that last weeks or longer, noted Henry.
The B.C. government is not currently considering stiffer restrictions to deal with the surge in cases, such as shutting down pubs or nightclubs.
Dix and Henry said they have had co-operation from
It’s our expectation that the limits on the number of people at parties will be in place this weekend.” Adrian Dix
that sector and COVID-19 exposures have gone down at these venues.
Henry said that the province’s ability to quickly trace almost all those who came into contact with an infected person has also helped to dampen the effect of the surge in cases as restrictions were lifted.
There were more than 1,800 people in quarantine in the province as of Thursday.