New COVID-19 rules: Regional health order issued for Fraser East local health area
B.C. health officials have announced a new regional health order for the local health area of Fraser East.
This order is in effect as of Tuesday, the province's top doctor announced at a news conference in Vancouver.
Similar to the approach taken in B.C.'s Interior Health Authority, new restrictions in the LHA will include limits to private gatherings and organized events, both indoors and outdoors, unless all participants are fully vaccinated.
According to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, the LHA that includes Chilliwack, Hope, Abbotsford, Mission and Agassiz-Harrison is being targeted due to a combination of lower vaccination rates and higher transmission of COVID-19.
View the boundaries of Fraser East on a map from the province.
Indoor household gatherings are limited to five additional people or one additional household, the doctor said. Up to 10 people, in addition to those living at the home, can gather outdoors, unless everyone is fully vaccinated.
"This is where we know that if we are coming together, particularly indoors, where this transmission can happen very quickly and rapidly with the Delta (variant) that we're seeing transmitted right now, we can mitigate that by being fully vaccinated," Henry said.
Organized gatherings, such as weddings and conferences, held in the Fraser East LHA are now limited to 10 people inside, or 50 outside, unless all participants are fully vaccinated.
Provincially, attendees of events that require vaccination currently only need to have the first dose in B.C. They won't be required to have both until Oct. 26.
In Fraser East, that two-dose deadline is being moved up and is in effect immediately.
This applies to ticketed events too, including concerts, movies and sporting events, as well as gyms, fitness classes and more.
Organizers of these events now need to keep a contact list of all attendees.
Outdoor adult sports are now limited to 50 participants unless every person is fully vaccinated. Proof will be through their B.C. Vaccine Cards.
Henry said transmission in indoor workplaces has been a concern in the eastern Fraser Valley, and businesses will need to update their COVID-19 safety plans to include the requirement that masks must be worn indoors, with some exemptions (including that workers are behind a barrier or in a room by themselves) and safety considerations.
She did not say how long she believes these restrictions will be in effect in the health area.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'