B.C. health officials on Monday tried to provide more clarity about new regional restrictions to curb the transmission of COVID-19.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said there have been countless questions about new orders in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions that limit social interactions for the next two weeks in an effort to slow new infections.
“This always happens when new orders come out because they’re across-the-board orders and we have almost an infinite variety of human activity across these health authorities,” Dix told a news briefing.
Until 12 p.m. on Nov. 23, residents in the two health regions are banned from social gatherings of any size with anyone other than their immediate household.
Details of the latest directive have been posted online and state that people in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health should limit “social interactions” to those in their “immediate household.”
The terms sparked significant public confusion when they were announced on Saturday.
On Sunday, a health ministry spokesperson clarified that “social gathering” means any recreational gathering with others — whether it be in a private home or not.
The ministry also tried to clarify what “household” means.
“These would be the people you spend the most time with and are physically close to. These would be people who are part of your regular routine — so, household members, immediate family, a close friend or the people you have regular close contact with (for example a co-parent who lives outside the household),” said the statement.
Anyone who finds themselves wondering whether to engage in a particular activity under the new rules should err on the side of caution, Dix said, and not do it.
“I think to everyone in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health, I would say this, that if you have a question right now, for these two weeks, don’t do what you’re thinking of doing,” he said.
“There’s an expression, I think, in baseball, that the tie goes to the runner …. In this case, I think our priority should be to stop the transmission of COVID-19.”
On Monday, the province reported 998 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths over two days, as the number of people in hospital jumped to 133, with 43 patients in intensive care.
Outdoor social activities should be limited to household members, Henry said on Monday.
“Yes, it’s safe to be outside — be outside with one or two of your friends, go for a walk, keep your distances,” she said. “But no backyard barbecues right now.”
People are still welcome to dine in at restaurants with their close contacts, she said.
“It’s not up to the restaurant to police this, it’s up to us to police this,” she added. “And that means keeping our group small.”
In addition, indoor group physical activities are suspended and travel into and out of the Lower Mainland is discouraged.
Henry said Saturday’s orders were based on data on how COVID-19 has been spreading.
The decision to stop spin classes, yoga, group fitness, and dance classes stemmed from transmission at these types of activities in B.C., as well as a superspreader event at a spin studio in Hamilton, Ont., Henry said.
“What we’ve come to recognize is that indoor spaces with poor ventilation, where people are exercising and breathing heavily and there’s somebody at the front yelling at you and the music is loud — the virus can spread really easily that way.”
Stronger protocols around group fitness are being developed, Henry added.
“We thought we had adequate protocols in place. And this is not a reflection on those businesses. It is a reflection that we are continually continuing to learn about this virus.”
Most businesses can still operate under WorkSafeBC protocols, but employees are encouraged to work from home if they can.
Transmission has occurred in retail businesses, Henry added, but it’s been between coworkers in shared spaces like break rooms, not between workers and customers.
Henry said that British Columbians need to do what they did back in the spring during the first wave of the pandemic.
“If you are in doubt about whether to travel or whether to see somebody right now, don’t do it. This is our time to regroup. So say no to those playdates right now. This is not the time to have those social interactions.”
— With files from Simon Little, Richard Zussman, and The Canadian Press