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EDITORIAL: With COVID cases climbing, now's the time to remind people what's at stake

The days of low-single digit increases of new COVID-19 infections in B.C. have slipped through our fingers. Since the beginning of July, the curve we worked so hard to flatten has turned sharply upwards.
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The days of low-single digit increases of new COVID-19 infections in B.C. have slipped through our fingers. Since the beginning of July, the curve we worked so hard to flatten has turned sharply upwards.

A certain amount of growth was to be expected as we reopened our economy but, at 40 to 50 new cases per day, this is at the higher end of what public health officials are comfortable seeing.

On the advice of Dr. Bonnie Henry, we want you to remain calm.

Hospitalization, ICU and death rates remain low. This is most likely because new infections are largely happening in people in their 20s and 30s – those who are less likely to wind up seriously ill.

Frustratingly, the data shows the virus is being transmitted to otherwise healthy young hosts at large social gatherings. That so many of them are being tracked down and testing positive is actually a good sign that our contact tracing system is working. It is much better than having new cases popping up seemingly at random as it was in the early, anxious days of the pandemic.

Still, no new infection is a welcome one, and every contagious person has the potential to spread it. We worry especially for those working on the front lines, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

There are some promising signs about the development of a vaccine, but for the foreseeable future, we are still on our own.

Chances are, if you’re the type to read a newspaper editorial, you know already what you have to do to stop the spread. But it’s clear, there are people in our families who need to be reminded what’s at stake. Talk to them. And just like Dr. Henry says, be kind.

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