B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, in January, 2023. British Columbia's top doctor says she is ending the public health emergency declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
British Columbia has lifted its public-health emergency for COVID-19, more than four years after the virus brought severe illness, death and social discord.
Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix told reporters in Victoria on Friday morning that all remaining restrictions – including the requirement that all health care workers be vaccinated – were being rescinded immediately.
She said this was largely because of the end of a recent surge in cases and Omicron cementing itself as the dominant strain that is not mutating much compared with the first waves of the pandemic. Currently, fewer than 200 hospital patients across the whole province have tested positive for the virus over the past week and just 11 are in intensive care.
After reviewing all the data, Dr. Henry said she was confident the province had reached the point where there was no longer a need for the public-health emergency. She added that she contemplated making this change “a few months ago,” but there was still too much uncertainty around the effects of a spring wave of COVID-19.
“We’ve adapted to the changing situation and responded to what we see in the data and we’re in a place now, I believe, in this journey where we no longer need these orders,” Dr. Henry said. “It has been a time of great uncertainty for the last four years and, for many, a time of fear and anxiety as things have changed sometimes very rapidly.”
“I know for some people this removing of the last of the orders will increase their fear and anxiety … but for others, it will be very welcome.”
The provincial Health Ministry has linked 7,161 people’s deaths to the disease since official tracking began in January of 2020.
Dr. Henry said she had no idea how many British Columbians were suffering long COVID-19, or “post-COVID syndrome” as she also referred to it, but the latest research suggests roughly 3 per cent to 5 per cent of those infected with the virus continue suffering symptoms such as breathing problems, debilitating fatigue or brain fog. She added that vaccines prevent certain long COVID-19 symptoms and “make a difference in helping people recover from long COVID-19.”
Dr. Henry said people should still mask up if they have a sore throat and are running errands where they will be inside with strangers and noted people who are more vulnerable to the virus should wear an N95 respirator if they are in a hospital or another health care setting.
Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of people working in health care now must disclose their immunization status for COVID-19, the flu and other “critical vaccine preventable diseases” so that they can be forced to mask up, modify their jobs or sit out shifts in the event of a future outbreak or pandemic, Mr. Dix said.
He added that “99 per cent” of health care workers had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the number fired was relatively small – roughly 600 full-time employees, very few of whom were nurses or doctors. Mr. Dix said these people could all now reapply for jobs in the sector.
With a report from The Canadian Press