Thread by @brish_ti

#Thread: @adriandix and PHO Bonnie Henry starting their presser

Dix: Need to "wear a mask if we have mild symptoms & considering wearing a mask in indoor public spaces...most importantly staying home when we're sick and...washing our hands frequently with soap & water.

@adriandix DBH: "The three main viruses we need to pay attention to...are now COVID-19...influenza and RSV"

Says ~51% of eligible children have had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

About 90% of BCians have some immunity from COVID-19 through vax and prior infection.

@CapitalDailyVic

DBH: As a result of protection from vax and prior infection, "Most people in BC are no longer at risk of severe illness and hospitalization even in long term care, even people who are immune compromised."
Says hospitalization/death from COVID has started to drop in last few weeks

DBH: "We're now starting to see a gradual and steeper increase within the last two weeks of respiratory illness in BC...that increase has been driven by respiratory illness in young people."

Seeing a levelling off of COVID-19, and up uptick in RSV and dramatic increase in flu.

Henry is calling for people to get children vaccinated against the flu.

"It's not possible now to tell if you have symptoms of COVID, influenza, enterovirus, RSV, they all cause very similar types of illness."

Calls on people to wear a mask around others if symptomatic.

DBH: Last year we had mask mandates...it was in the context of what we were facing at the time...Immunization was increasing but not yet at the level we needed. We had no vaccines available for children...We had absenteeism in HCWs and many workers outside of health.

#bcpoli

(Healthcare and other workers, like those in education, are still reporting high levels of absenteeism due to sickness)

capitaldaily.ca/news/island-te…

capitaldaily.ca/news/unprecede…

@CapitalDailyVic #covid19bc

Mask mandates too heavy handed and not needed now, DBH said.

"I may wear a mask one day on the bus if it's crowded...or if I'm worried I might be getting the sniffles. But on another day if I'm feeling fine and there's lots of space and good ventilation, I may choose not to."

Data from BC Children's Hospital showing rates of COVID-19, RSV, and influenza.

Pediatric ICU (at BC Children's Hospital, Victoria General Hospital, U of Norther BC) rates have been over capacity:

@CapitalDailyVic #COVID19BC

How to help parents waiting hours and hours for children visiting ER?

DBH: "This is a challenge that we face a lot."

Talk to your primary care physician, call 811 for advice, and "don't put off that visit if you need to go to the ED...We will all need to be patient."

How quickly can you staff surge beds for hospitals?

DBH says they set up the Emergency Operation Centre at the BC Children's hospital and a provincial one "to be able to do that on a day to day basis."

#covid19bc

Is the hesitation to bring back mask mandates because they'd be hard to enforce?

DBH: Mask mandates were in the context of where we needed them to be worn over broad areas.... I don't see a mandate being required by itself right now in the situation that we're in.

#covid19bc

Why is there a reluctance to put mask mandates in schools, given studies from US that show masks led to drop in cases?

Addressing the study: "Masking was part when community rates were high, community rates come down. They're not cause and effect in those studies."

"We're not in the situation right now where I think every single child and adult in the school setting has to wear a mask all the time."

Emphasis on in person schooling for social connection.

(Kids can't be in school when they're sick, hence absences: capitaldaily.ca/news/flu-cases…)

.@AndreaWoo asks about increased long COVID risks with subsequent reinfections & whether that warrants a stronger public health response.

DBH: "We're not seeing as many people develop long COVID symptoms particularly after vaccination."

#covid19bc

How many pediatric elective surgeries have been cancelled or postponed in response to increase in respiratory infection?

Dix: There are on a daily basis...surgeries that are cancelled but across the system we've been doing record numbers of surgeries.

*Doesn't answer question

That's it for health ministry briefing.

@BCGreens will be holding their own presser at 1:30pm, joined by BC Children's Hospital pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi.

@bcliberals leader Kevin Falcon said earlier he doesn't support mask mandate

https://twitter.com/A_MacLeod_Tyee/status/1592942143496388608?s=20&t=ulZYl9f66KhRXd_1IFjAYQ

.@SoniaFurstenau: “At this stage in the pandemic, public health measures are a political decision and I urge our incoming Premier to recognize the urgency of this situation and reinstate a mask mandate in indoor public spaces to protect our kids.”

@CapitalDailyVic
#covid19bc

Furstenau: "Hearing our health minister's statement today about we're not seeing the level that Ontario is yet. I come back....to the need for governments to be proactive," she says, in support of mask mandate.

#covid19bc

.@BCChildrensHosp pediatric surgeon Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi says it's a crisis situation.

Asked about no mask mandate in schools, Gandhi says we're not gonna fix healthcare overnight but we should be doing what we can do to prevent kids getting sick.

#covid19bc

Are more infections or staff shortages to blame for long wait times?

Gandhi: a combination of both

"It's a perfect storm."

I asked: Are all kids going to hospital with respiratory illness currently tested for COVID using a PCR test?

Answer from Dr. Gandhi: No. Only some kids are, like if you're immunocompromised. Current guidance is not to test otherwise healthy kids.

@CapitalDailyVic
#covid19bc

My followup question: how many elective surgeries are being cancelled?

Dr. Gandhi, talking about heart surgeries at @BCChildrensHosp, says it's routine for his cases to get cancelled.

@CapitalDailyVic

"Bottom line is kids aren't getting the surgeries they need...I applaud surgical renewal program but "pediatrics is overshadowed by the adult world."

@CapitalDailyVic

That's it for the pressers today. Watch for a @CapitalDailyVic story in the newsletter tomorrow.

These press conferences were held in person, but I didn't attend because I'm not well and didn't want to spread anything. Grateful to be able to get a few questions in virtually.