Huge weekend spike in Fraser Health cases, more Tri-Cities data may come

Tri-City residents may soon have more detail about where COVID-19 transmission is taking place in the region after one of B.C.’s top doctors admitted people need more information to make better decisions about their health.

Dr. Réka Gustafson, deputy provincial health officer, promised more “granular” information, where COVID-19 transmission is taking place, including in Fraser Health, where the majority of cases were identified this weekend.

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Monday, Gustafson said B.C.’s COVID-19 numbers are “concerning,” with another six deaths and 1,120 new cases confirmed over the weekend.

Most of the new cases, 830, are in Fraser Health.

Gustafson noted that the active caseload is now 2,945 patients, 90 of whom are in hospital, including 19 in intensive care.

The new case numbers confirmed for each of the last three days are record-breaking for the province, with 352 from Friday to Saturday, 389 from Saturday to Sunday and 379 from Sunday to Monday.

CASE NUMBERS SOAR

With case numbers rising, exposure notices have been recently been posted for a Port Moody restaurant, two Tri-City senior care homes and a Port Coquitlam school, raising concerns about COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities.

In response to questions from the media, Dr. Gustafson acknowledged that people want more information and she said staff are “working hard on trying to provide more granular information.”

“The more information you have about your community the more empowered you are to take precautions as needed,” Dr. Gustafson said.

As B.C. sees an increasing case load, the province is hiring hundreds of contact tracers and Gustafson said they do a better job of informing people and providing advice than a federal app that has been dowloaded by millions of Canadians.

Dr. Gustafson said the COVID Alert app doesn’t provide enough information for people to take action if they get an exposure notification.

“You need to have some details about it so you know it’s an actual exposure,” she said, so people know “whether there’s a signifiant risk to you above and beyond the background risk.”

Dr. Gustafson explained people are already following public health guidelines to reduce background risk. 

APP TOO VAGUE

An app needs to be more specific in informing people where and when the exposure took place and what action to take, Gustafson said, noting that digital tools are currently being developed that would provide people exposed to COVID-19 information that would encourage them to change their behaviour.

But although numbers have risen in recent days, Health Minister Adrian Dix wasn’t prepared to add more rules, and told a press conference instead that British Columbians should follow existing orders to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The goal of the new health orders said Dix, was to get people to limit their contacts and reduce the spread of COVID-19 so that busineses and schools could stay open and surgeries could continue in the province.

Dr. Gustafson said the COVID-19 cases are studied in detail and interventions are put in place to deal with them directly, but she didn’t hint at any more even as more people move indoors with celebrations and gatherings expected to ramp up toward the holiday season.

While there have been some exposures in work places, Dr. Gustafson said the source usually happens “in social networks outside the workplace” and she urged people to keep gatherings small and celebrate at restaurants or businesses where safety protocols are in place.