More COVID-19 restrictions and booster shots possible in Northern Health as cases spread
Health officials are looking at implementing more COVID-19 measures, including possible restrictions or booster vaccine doses, as cases in B.C.'s Northern Health region continue to surge.
The announcement came Tuesday during a news conference with provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix.
“We are actively working with (our) Northern Health colleagues to determine what additional measures we need to break the chains of transmission across many communities for everyone,” Henry said.
“My public health colleagues are very concerned with what we continue to see in many communities across the north,” she said.
On a per-capita basis, Northern Health continues to have the highest rate of infection in the province by a wide margin. As a result, there are already regional health measures in place, but more may be needed, Henry said.
“COVID-19 is spreading at a higher than average rate, people are becoming severely ill, even young people – mostly unvaccinated young people – and hospitals are pushed to the limit across the north.”
Consideration is also being given to booster shots for certain communities. So far, only seniors in long-term care homes and people who are clinically extremely vulnerable have been offered a third dose of the vaccines.
“We're also looking at whether we need to use three doses in certain communities as a way to manage some of the severe illness, and the outbreaks that we are seeing,” Henry said.
Infection rates in Northern Health are so high that hospitals are over capacity. So far 55 patients have been transferred to hospitals in other health authorities, Dix said.
Forty-three of those 55 patients are COVID-19 patients, and 42 of them aren’t fully vaccinated, Dix explained.
On the Friday before Thanksgiving, four were transferred out, on Saturday five were transferred, one person on Sunday and four people on Monday.
There are currently 63 critical care beds in the north, Dix said, 23 of which are surge beds that have been added to help deal with COVID-19 cases. But even then, it’s not enough to meet the demand for ICU beds in the region.
“Over this Thanksgiving weekend 14 patients (were) flown from communities in the north, hundreds and hundreds of kilometers,” he said.
Dix thanked health-care workers for their efforts on the transfers, and said the province also added two additional planes to the BC Emergency Health Services fleet to help with the transfers by partnering with private sector companies.
“That's how they dealt with their Thanksgiving,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
B.C.'s short-term rental regulations include $10K daily penalties for Airbnb, other platforms
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Closing arguments heard in trial for Sask. dad accused of abducting daughter
Closing arguments were heard Thursday morning in the case of Michael Gordon Jackson, the Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter in 2021 to keep her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.