40% of COVID-19 cases in B.C. are linked to social gatherings

Despite the ban on social gatherings, it seems a number of illegal events are leading to the spread of COVID-19 in B.C.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday that 40 per cent of exposures right now are linked to gatherings.

1:46 Social gathering crack down in Richmond

This includes a recent trivia night at the St. James Well in Port Moody where 50 people were gathered and 15 people ended up testing positive for COVID-19.

The pub shut down for the weekend to do a deep clean and was slated to reopen on Feb. 16.

However, those cases then spread into other parts of the community. Henry said these gatherings need to stop to prevent the spread and to enable the province to make it to the spring, when there is enough vaccine to protect people.

“We in public health cannot be everywhere,” Henry said. “We can’t be in every pub or a restaurant or business or every place all at the same time. We need to hold each other accountable right now.”

2:12 Rising COVID-19 concerns in Fraser Health

Richmond RCMP officers were kept busy over the weekend as people continued to host karaoke parties in violation of provincial health orders.

Officers were called to two events, shutting them down and handing out more than $17,000 in fines.

Richmond RCMP said people need to abide by the rules and regulations. “This is a serious thing,” Cpl. Ian Henderson told Global News.

B.C. reported four days of COVID-19 numbers Tuesday totalling 1,533 new cases and reporting another 26 deaths.

There were 452 COVID-19 cases from Friday to Saturday, 431 cases Saturday to Sunday, 348 from Sunday to Monday, and 302 from Monday to Tuesday.

Of the new cases, 392 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 856 were in the Fraser Health region, with 58 in Island Health, 92 in Interior Health, and 135 in Northern Health.

5:21 B.C. reports 1,533 new COVID-19 cases, 26 deaths over four days

The Fraser Health region continues to be the biggest concern with the seven-day average rising 18 per cent since Feb. 1 to 222 a day.

The COVID-19 positivity rate in Fraser Health is now seven per cent, which is up 5.2 per cent since Feb. 1.