Pulse FM News Update for Tuesday, August 31

The B-C government will release its latest epidemiological modelling for COVID-19 today. Yesterday, the province reported seven more deaths and one-thousand-853 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed over a three-day period — an average of about 617 cases per day. There are more than 59-hundred active infections across the province, of which nearly 41 per cent are located in the Interior Health region. The province says fully unvaccinated individuals accounted for more than 71 per cent of the province’s cases and 79 per cent of hospitalizations between August 13th and last Friday.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province is prepared to give out COVID-19 booster shots should they be required and recommended by public health officials. He says the COVID-19 booster shot is something health officials have been preparing for both within and beyond the long-term care sector, and for those who are immunocompromised. The government says more than 76 per cent of those who are eligible are fully vaccinated in B-C. Last week, Health Canada said the National Advisory Committee on Immunization continues to review evidence on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for those who are immunosuppressed.

The B-C Conservation Officer Service says three coyote attacks were recorded in Stanley Park on Friday. The service says the people were bitten in morning and late in the evening, noting coyotes are particularly aggressive and active during dawn or dusk hours. The Conservation Officer Service says people need to stay out of the park, although entry has not been banned completely.

The City of Penticton has activated its emergency operations centre to support the response to the Skaha Creek wildfire. Director Donny Van Dyk says the municipality is taking steps to prepare and plan in the event there is a change in the behaviour of the fire, and to be ready to support the Penticton Indian Band. The First Nation put 240 properties on evacuation alert yesterday as a precaution. The fire grew to 212 hectares yesterday and is classified as out of control

The B-C government says plans are underway to bring health-care support workers who are contracted out to private companies back to work directly for provincial health authorities. It says the change will improve wages, working conditions and job security for about four-thousand housekeeping and food-service workers in acute health-care facilities after they’ve been contracted to private companies for nearly 20 years. It says the process will begin this fall and it’s working with the Hospital Employees’ Union, the health authorities and contractors on a phased approach to the change. Meena Brisard with the union says in a statement the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical such workers are, but also how they’re working in some of the lowest-paid jobs with high risk of infection.

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at the Chilliwack General Hospital, where the Fraser Health authority says three patients have tested positive in a single unit. That’s after Northern Health announced a new COVID-19 outbreak at the Fort St. John Hospital over the weekend, where three patients and two staff tested positive. An outbreak was also ongoing at White Rock’s Peace Arch Hospital, along with 13 in long-term care and assisted living as of the province’s last update on Friday

There’s an effort underway to battle misinformation around COVID-19 when it comes to back-to-school. ‘Science Up First,’ which is made up of a group of independent scientists and healthcare researchers, is giving parents, students, and teachers across Canada a chance to air concerns and ask questions Tuesday through a national townhall focused on back-to-school safety. The expert panel includes Dr. Yanet Valdez, an immunologist from UBC, who is a mother herself. She says one of the biggest concerns she’s hearing from parents is about the safety of kids too young to be vaccinated against COVID at the moment. Valdez says it’s true the coronavirus typically has less of an impact on kids, but they can still carry it and pass it on to others. She says we are at a critical point in which we need to take care of our young population, and we need to vaccinate everyone who qualifies to limit the spread of the variant. Valdez explains the townhall will give people a chance to ask questions and clear up any misinformation around COVID-19 and schools. You can register for the #TakeScience Townhall online. taking place at 5 p.m tonight.

B-C’s top doctor is encouraging everyone connected with children under 12 to get their COVID-19 vaccinations as the new school year begins next week. Dr. Bonnie Henry says about 600-thousand younger children are not eligible for vaccination in the province and rising cases in the United States are directly linked to low immunization rates in the broader community. She says overall COVID-19 cases are expected to go up and breakthrough infections among the elderly, especially in long-term care facilities, are due to unvaccinated people bringing the illness into those high-risk settings. The province says 76.5 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated and about 84 per cent have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

B-C has reported 655 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the number of active infections to six-thousand-45 across the province. About 41 per cent of overall active cases are located in the Interior Health region. The Health Ministry says two more people have died after contracting COVID-19, for a death toll of one-thousand-816 since the pandemic began. An new outbreak at the Kamloops Seniors Village brings the total to 16 active outbreaks in assisted-living and long-term care in addition to outbreaks at three hospitals in White Rock, Chilliwack and Fort St John. (The Canadian Press)

B-C’s chief coroner says it’s “tremendously frustrating” to see deaths from toxic illicit drugs reaching record levels with “no significant changes” being made. Lisa Lapointe says B-C’s safe supply program, where pharmaceutical drugs are prescribed as an alternative, must be expanded and given greater support. She made the remarks at a news conference this morning, where she reported that more than 1,000 people died of suspected drug toxicity in the province between January and June — the highest-ever death toll in the first six months of a year. Lapointe adds that most of the public doesn’t understand and needs greater education about substance dependency.

The B-C Wildfire Service says it has completed planned ignitions around the northeast flank of the White Rock Lake fire burning west of Okanagan Lake. The service says containment of the destructive blaze that’s forced the evacuation of 13-hundred properties might be achieved in the next seven to 10 days versus upwards of six weeks if the fire had been left to reach containment lines naturally. Elsewhere, the fire service says the two-square-kilometre Skaha Creek fire near Penticton is not threatening any structures and cooler weather with a chance of showers is expected to help crews make progress containing it today. The City of Penticton has activated its emergency operations centre to support the response to the fire, while the Penticton Indian Band issued an evacuation alert for 240 properties as a precaution.