Health Minister Adrian Dix holding press conference. On online vaccine web portal. Says the system has been tested and 'we will see what happens tomorrow'. Asking people close to 1950 to register and others wait. #bcpoli
On anxiety of registering for younger people, Dix says there has been an enthusiasm to book. "There will be a lot of interest in booking. We will have a system to be informed when there is their time to book." #bcpoli
On vaccine supply, Dix says Pfizer will be a little less than last week and Moderna is slow to arrive. So far 893.590 doses have been administered, 806,017 first doses. 18.7% of eligible British Columbians. Millionth dose by the end of the week in BC. #bcpoli
Are variants driving admission in BC, Dix says over the weekend the province averaged 1,010 new cases per day. There are 916 new variants cases added. 373 B117 active, 215 P1 active. #bcpoli
On new restrictions coming, Dix says the current measures are strong. "The issues are not the measures, we all need to follow them." #bcpoli
On virus spread from BC to Alberta including P!, Dix says travel has had an impact. This includes Whistler. #bcpoli
On hospitalizations, Dix says 60 of the 320 cases in hospital are linked to variants. Not an increase in hospitalizations among young people but the frequency of ICU is going up. #bcpoli
On BC having more P1 than anywhere other than Brazil, Dix says he doesn't know if that is true. Says we are doing more genomic sequencing than anywhere in Canada. #bcpoli
On ICUs having capacity concerns, Dix says some hospitals are getting close to base bed capacity. Says there are surge beds available and right now province wide BC is at 55% capacity. #bcpoli
On stricter rules needed to deal with ICU numbers going up, Dix says the majority of people sick are older. "We are seeing more people in hospital because more people are sick." Says agree with doctors speaking out about the risk. #bcpoli
On a travel ban in BC, Dix says in a province our size it is very hard to do. "If you don't need to travel right now, don't travel. We can't have armies of people enforcing those rules." #bcpoli
On visitors coming into a community, Dix says if you cannot operate safely under COVID plan you should take measure. Says it's disgraceful health officials were yelled at over the weekend for trying to enforce rules. #bcpoli
Dix on travel - "we can't stop people from moving around. We don't live in that kind of state in British Columbia." #bcpoli
On people driving a few hours for a day trip, Dix says it is time to listen to your heart and head and not travel. #bcpoli
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NEW - From April 3 to 4, we had 999 cases, and in the last 24-hours, we had a further 890 cases for a two-day total of 1,889 new cases. #bcpoli
These periods are in addition to April 1 to 2, when BC reported 1,018 cases, and April 2 and 3, when BC reported 1,072 cases. Those figures were provisional and have since been confirmed as 1,074 cases over April 1 to 2 and 1,077 cases over April 2 to 3. #bcpoli
There was a four-day case count of 4,040 new cases, for a total of 104,061 cases in British Columbia to date. #bcpoli
Health Minister Adrian Dix taking questions now. On whether people should double mask, Dix says the important thing is to wear a mask in public, indoor spaces. Says there is no guidance from BC on double masking. #bcpoli#covid19BC
Dix is now circling back unbidden to comment about doing more. Says there are many people who are doing more. This has nothing to do with double masking. #bcpoli
Dr. Victoria Lee says they are reviewing evidence at a provincial level around double masking. Focuses back to following the existing guidelines. Says there has been some negative impacts on double masking in health care sector. #bcpoli
Global BC Town Hall underway with Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix. #bcpoli
First question is what would you have done differently. Dr. Henry says globally they should have supported China more. #bcpoli
Dr. Henry says we underestimated Thanksgiving and could have done more then. “It was really hard to tell.” This timing also aligned with the BC election. #bcpoli
NEW - There are 546 new cases, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 66,265 cases in British Columbia. #bcpoli
There are 4,455 active cases of COVID-19 in BC. There are 291 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 75 of whom are in intensive care. #bcpoli
There are 7,176 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 59,141 people who tested positive have recovered. #bcpoli