B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry opened the door to possible region-specific COVID-19 orders Thursday, as the number of cases linked to the Fraser Health region continued to mount.
Of the 234 cases B.C. reported in the past 24 hours, 173 were in the Fraser Health region, an area stretching from Boston Bar to Burnaby and home to 1.8 million people.
“There is the possibility of adding regional-specific orders, but we know that most people are following the recommendations,” Henry said.
“We know there’s a lot of transmission in some communities more than others, and its not limited to the Fraser Valley, but in the last weeks we’ve seen cases here.”
Thursday’s briefing was held in Surrey, as officials sought to underscore efforts to curb transmission in the region.
Test positivity in the Fraser Health region has also outpaced the rest of B.C., climbing from around two per cent, about equal with the Vancouver Coastal Health region, at the start of October to an average of five per cent in recent days.
The surge in new cases also prompted both Henry and Fraser Health president and CEO Dr. Victoria Lee to urge area residents to actively reduce contact with others.
“At this crucial time we are asking people who reside in the Fraser Health region to take a pause and reconsider our social interactions outside of our households,” Lee said.
“Ensure your safe six are always the same six. As much as possible, please socialize outside your home.”
The plea comes just days after Henry issued a new public health order banning social gatherings in private homes with more than six people other than residents.
While Henry raised the spectre of a possible new order should transmission rates not drop, she also said the province is not looking at anything like a broad shelter-in-place order.
“We have never had a ‘lockdown’ as we know them from other jurisdictions in British Columbia, and nor do we intend to,” Henry said.
“Our plan … when we started our restart is that it goes in one-way only, and that we need to learn how do we live with this virus and reduce those settings (where) we know transmission is happening.”
Any new orders that are issued will be based on isolating environments where contact tracers have determined transmission is occurring, Henry said.
Whether new orders are in a specific region or province-wide, they will also attempt to keep businesses, schools and hospital operations to stay open, she added.
About 81 per cent of B.C.’s total 14,109 cases have recovered.