British Columbians will be required to wear a mask in all indoor public spaces once again, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said at a Tuesday (Aug. 24) press conference.
Masks will be required in locations including retail stores, malls, libraries, community centres, public transit, common areas of fitness centres and at bars and restaurants B次元官网网址� unless seated B次元官网网址� starting Wednesday (Aug. 25). The mask mandate had previously been lifted in July as B.C. entered Phase 3, which occurred as cases and hospitalizations decreased and first dose vaccinations rates for adults reached 70 per cent.
B次元官网网址淭his is to address those situations where we are in indoor settings with people who may not yet have been vaccinated,B次元官网网址� Henry said. B次元官网网址淭his temporary order will be reassessed as the B.C. vaccine card requirement is fully implemented in certain social and recreational centre settings.B次元官网网址�
Transmission of the virus has increased in recent weeks, with more than 1,700 cases reported over the weekend. The biggest spike has been in Interior Health, where at first the Central Okanagan area and then the rest of the health authority had a mask mandate imposed prior to the province-wide one.
Henry said that the mask mandate was coming back because people are more likely to congregate in indoor spaces as the weather cools, where the virus is more easily spread.
B次元官网网址淲e said all along masks are one of the additional measures that we need in certain circumstances, particularly when weB次元官网网址檙e in places that may have poor ventilation where weB次元官网网址檙e around people whose vaccine status we donB次元官网网址檛 yet know,B次元官网网址� she said.
Henry said that the mask mandate would work to help slow transmission as the respiratory virus season begins, but that she couldnB次元官网网址檛 say how COVID-19 cases would change over the fall.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 hard to say what will happen over the fall,B次元官网网址� she said, noting that her concern was for areas where vaccination rates remained low.
B次元官网网址淭hose are the issues we will need to continue to address.B次元官网网址�
The provincial health officer said that the mask mandate was an B次元官网网址渁dditional stepB次元官网网址� to keep people safe but that immunizations remained key in the fight against COVID-19.
B次元官网网址淲e know that even a 10 per cent increase per age group makes a big difference in blunting the impact of even the Delta variant that weB次元官网网址檙e seeing being transmitted right now.B次元官网网址�
The majority of COVID cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks have been in people who are not fully vaccinated. While the province does not release the vaccination status of people diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19 each day, data from Aug. 11-17 shows that 71 per cent of cases were among the unvaccinated, 16 per cent were among the partially vaccinated and 13 per cent were among the fully vaccinated.
Hospitalization data from Aug. 10-16 shows that 84 per cent of hospitalizations were among the unvaccinated, five per cent were among the partially vaccinated and 11 per cent were among the fully vaccinated.
As of Monday, 83.2 per cent of eligible people in B.C. have received their first dose and 74.9 have received their second.
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