Why no workplace closures during B.C.'s 4th wave? Ministry says they haven't been necessary
B.C.'s Ministry of Health says officials still have the authority to order businesses to close when there is evidence of COVID-19 transmission between employees, they just haven't had a reason to issue such an order in more than three months.
That's how long it's been since the last time a workplace in the Lower Mainland was ordered to close due to COVID-19 transmission.
Even as cases have risen during the fourth wave of the pandemic in the province, the number of business closures has stayed at zero, something the ministry attributes to high rates of vaccination reducing the risk of workplace outbreaks.
In April of this year, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced what she called an "expedited workplace closure order" aimed at slowing the transmission of COVID-19 between working-age people.
Businesses where three or more employees tested positive for the coronavirus and officials found evidence of at-work transmission would be ordered to close for at least 10 days, with officers from WorkSafeBC empowered to deliver the closure orders on behalf of regional health authorities.
Dozens of businesses in the Lower Mainland were ordered to close in the weeks following Henry's announcement, but by early June the number had dwindled to zero as COVID-19 transmission fell across the province.
Asked why there haven't been any closures since June, and whether the criteria for ordering a business to close due to COVID-19 transmission had changed, the ministry emailed a statement to CTV News Vancouver that reads, in part:
"Orders related to workplace safety have been archived. Once these orders are archived, they are rescinded and are no longer applicable. However, public health officials maintain the ability and the authority under the Public Health Act to close a business that is posing a health hazard to the workers or the public."
"The vast majority of eligible people are now vaccinated, which has significantly modified the risk of outbreaks in workplace settings," the ministry continued.
PUBLIC EXPOSURES ALSO UNCOMMON
In a similar vein, public exposure notifications on health authority websites have been few and far between as B.C.'s fourth wave has progressed.
After a flurry of exposure notices in July and early August, neither Fraser Health nor Vancouver Coastal Health has issued such a warning in weeks.
Interior Health had also gone more than a month without such a notice, before announcing Thursday that a grad party in Armstrong on Sept. 6 had led to "a small number" of cases among students from Pleasant Valley Secondary School and warning attendees to self-monitor for symptoms.
Regarding exposure notices, the ministry says there has been no change to the criteria for issuing one.
"We are seeing more exposure events in private settings," the ministry said. "Public exposures are listed when there's been exposures and people can't be identified. Contact tracing allows public health to identify the majority of close contacts and potential cases."
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.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
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.
'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.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
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.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
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.