On the very day British Columbia reported its highest number of COVID-19 infections, the BC Green Party is calling for a three-week shutdown..BC reported 1,293 new COVID-19 cases, smashing all previous daily records of infection..The BC Greens are putting responsibility for the escalation right at the foot of Premier John Horgan and the rest of the NDP Party..“Earlier this spring, I said it felt like government was not rising to the fight in light of rising case numbers,” said Sonia Furstenau, leader of the B.C. Green Party and MLA for Cowichan Valley, said in a statement..“We were not dealt a bad hand — we loosened restrictions despite rising variant cases, allowed out-of-province travel, stalled in-school mask mandates, and did not enforce orders or tailor messaging to hit those who have not been following orders. This third wave is the outcome of that inaction.”.It’s believed the new cases are part of a surging third wave and bring the total cases recorded in the province to 108,278 since the pandemic began..Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says two more people have died, bringing the death toll to 1,493..While the vaccine rollout has seen 995,001 doses delivered across British Columbia (of those, more than 87,000 were second doses), there are 9,184 active COVID-19 cases, including 336 people in hospital, and 101 more in critical care..Henry says the province is shifting its screening strategy for variants of concern, but the methods for preventing transmissions, such as hand washing and physical distancing, remain the same..She also noted a WorkSafeBC to issue temporary closure notices to workplaces where three or more workers are sick and transmission has been proven to have occurred in the work site..Yet Furstenau said those measure simply aren’t enough..“Neither the methods nor the messaging are working,” she said..“We need a coordinated response and action from government that shows they are taking the immediate and long-term threat of COVID-19 seriously.”.Furstenau said her party is calling on the province to create a clear and targeted shutdown strategy for a three-week period that includes:.• Enforcing non-essential travel measures..• Moving school online for most students..• Providing immediate government support to temporarily close non-essential businesses..• Increase transparency and revamp public communications by:.• Resuming daily COVID-19 briefings..• Publishing case numbers on weekends and holidays..• Extending media availability..• Adopting new messaging outside of press conferences to target non-compliers..• Increase testing and vaccination capacity by:.• Expanding asymptomatic testing and rapid testing in workplaces, schools, businesses, and neighbourhoods..• Improving reporting on variants of concern..• Increasing staffing at vaccination clinics and extending hours to administer all doses as soon as they arrive in province..“We need to step up and fight for the health of our province,” said Furstenau..“If we do this now, and do this right, we will all be stronger for it in the near future.” .Mike D’Amour is the British Columbia Bureau Chief for the Western Standard..,.mdamour@westernstandardonline.com
On the very day British Columbia reported its highest number of COVID-19 infections, the BC Green Party is calling for a three-week shutdown..BC reported 1,293 new COVID-19 cases, smashing all previous daily records of infection..The BC Greens are putting responsibility for the escalation right at the foot of Premier John Horgan and the rest of the NDP Party..“Earlier this spring, I said it felt like government was not rising to the fight in light of rising case numbers,” said Sonia Furstenau, leader of the B.C. Green Party and MLA for Cowichan Valley, said in a statement..“We were not dealt a bad hand — we loosened restrictions despite rising variant cases, allowed out-of-province travel, stalled in-school mask mandates, and did not enforce orders or tailor messaging to hit those who have not been following orders. This third wave is the outcome of that inaction.”.It’s believed the new cases are part of a surging third wave and bring the total cases recorded in the province to 108,278 since the pandemic began..Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says two more people have died, bringing the death toll to 1,493..While the vaccine rollout has seen 995,001 doses delivered across British Columbia (of those, more than 87,000 were second doses), there are 9,184 active COVID-19 cases, including 336 people in hospital, and 101 more in critical care..Henry says the province is shifting its screening strategy for variants of concern, but the methods for preventing transmissions, such as hand washing and physical distancing, remain the same..She also noted a WorkSafeBC to issue temporary closure notices to workplaces where three or more workers are sick and transmission has been proven to have occurred in the work site..Yet Furstenau said those measure simply aren’t enough..“Neither the methods nor the messaging are working,” she said..“We need a coordinated response and action from government that shows they are taking the immediate and long-term threat of COVID-19 seriously.”.Furstenau said her party is calling on the province to create a clear and targeted shutdown strategy for a three-week period that includes:.• Enforcing non-essential travel measures..• Moving school online for most students..• Providing immediate government support to temporarily close non-essential businesses..• Increase transparency and revamp public communications by:.• Resuming daily COVID-19 briefings..• Publishing case numbers on weekends and holidays..• Extending media availability..• Adopting new messaging outside of press conferences to target non-compliers..• Increase testing and vaccination capacity by:.• Expanding asymptomatic testing and rapid testing in workplaces, schools, businesses, and neighbourhoods..• Improving reporting on variants of concern..• Increasing staffing at vaccination clinics and extending hours to administer all doses as soon as they arrive in province..“We need to step up and fight for the health of our province,” said Furstenau..“If we do this now, and do this right, we will all be stronger for it in the near future.” .Mike D’Amour is the British Columbia Bureau Chief for the Western Standard..,.mdamour@westernstandardonline.com
