COVID-19 infections saw little-to-no movement during the latest reporting period in Burnaby as B.C. continues to hold tight testing criteria and as restrictions ease.
According to the latest Geographic Distribution of COVID-19 by Local Health Area of Case Residence, Burnaby recorded 95 cases from Feb. 20 to 26, 2022.
From Feb. 13 to 19, 2022, 98 cases were detected.
B.C. to 'soon' stop providing daily case counts
Daily updates from the provincial government on COVID-19 case counts will soon be a thing of the past, as B.C. winds down and transitions its surveillance of the virus’ transmission.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday (March 1), B.C. will be moving to a weekly coronavirus report “very soon” rather than the five-day-a-week updates that have defined the pandemic for two years.
And as the province slowly increases accessibility of take-home rapid tests and tightens access for lab testing, Henry says the BCCDC is working on how it will track the virus as an endemic.
Existing monitoring systems for influenza will grow to include COVID-19, while wastewater testing surveillance will be expanded to include not just COVID-19 but other pathogens as well.
Henry said they will also be examining if they can use routinely collected blood for monitoring purposes.
“These are all things that we're adapting and modifying what we're doing now as we're in this transition phase,” she said.
The government stopped reporting active virus caseloads last month.
B.C. to move 'cautiously' in removing remaining restrictions: Henry
While some other provinces completely remove pandemic related restrictions, Henry says B.C. will be moving more cautiously.
“We will make the decisions based on what we're seeing under data that we're seeing here and are pandemic at the time,” she said. “At the same time, I am very optimistic that we are moving to a better place rapidly.”
B.C. has said current restrictions will be reviewed by March 15, with the expectation that they will be loosened somewhat prior to spring break.
When asked how enforcement of current restrictions is being handled — primarily the vaccine passport and masking — Henry said the province “is trying to shift to personal responsibility and business responsibility.”
- with files from Colin Darce, Castanet
