>> All points and communities
through the interior. Joining me tonight is my cohost, and also with SR special guests. I would like to knowledge that
I'm here tonight on the traditional territory of
the first nations. I also recognize that you may be joining us from other
territories through the province. I also want to recognize the sacrifices that we
have all made together to help stop the spread
of COVID-19. We have landed the curve
together which is amazing. I want to thank everyone for
doing their part. Through the interior because everyone has done an amazing
job. Some folks are still going
outside at 7 o'clock.
And I'm now going to hand it
over to my cohost to give us a quick overview of what
this town hall will look like. >> I would recognize that I'm
broadcasting from the traditional territories. I share thoughts on how proud we
are of the people of British Columbia and
the interior health. And all of the sacrifices that
you have made individually. Collectively they have paid off
dividends and we want to personally thank you and you have done just a great
job. Let's just keep that going. I also want to acknowledge the Chief of Staff and the three
hospitals that service.
Doctor Chris McKenzie . They have been just amazing
leaders! I want to thank them and all of
their staff and everyone in the hospitals. The grocery stores, all of this
people who have worked so hard to make this what it is today and I also want
to acknowledge the extraordinary community
spirit that we see in British Columbia. And start off with Sue. >> Rick, thank you. I'm happy to be here tonight with everyone
in Amman the traditional territory tonight and I like to express my
extreme gratitude to all of our public
health practitioners in the interior
region.
Certainly to the medical health
officer colleagues that we have but also
are numerous other staff that have been
working day in and out on this response and we were seeing some very
positive response from all of the efforts not just
from healthcare but our individuals and
communities at large. Our businesses and we certainly
have work to do over the next few months but I
know we are all up for and I look forward to
answering your questions tonight. >> Susan? >> Good evening, I'm just across
the hallway from Sue. I'm also in the traditional territories
so it's great to be back with you tonight. I look forward to updating you
all and I do agree that there has been tremendous
support from the public to get us to this point. We just extend our gratitude for
your support. >> Thank you for joining us
today and we have asked British Colombians to submit their questions. I would like to hear everyone's
questions and get those questions asked and if you are watching on the
government of BC Facebook you can submit your
questions in the comment section down
below and you will have — we will have a chance to
address them.
Let's begin, and it's back over
to Emily. >> Let's get things rolling with
the first question. People in this region are
looking for an update on the number of COVID-19 cases
within the Housing Authority region. For example, how many active cases are there
in Interior health today and curious ads, of the total number
of COVID-19 cases how many are recovered? >> I'm happy to take that one. As of this morning we had 195
cases of COVID-19 in the health region. I'm happy to report that 191 of
those individuals are now classified as recovered. They are recovered and out of
space MX self isolation and are doing
well. And we continue to have two
active cases. >> Can you comment again on the
reason why. This question is from Jody. Can you comment on the reason
why we do not disclose the details and
location is today giving information only about the
health authority information only about the
health authority region? How many people have or have had
COVID-19 in the West region? >> We have talked about this
quite a few times and we are following the
direction of our provincial medical health
officer.
We have communities that are
quite small and divulging that could maybe
expose them when they don't want to be exposed. You have divulged when there has
been certain things. — Certain outbreaks. They give Sissel — it gives a false sense of community thinking that you don't have it
in your community when you might. Making sure that people do the
distancing and have good guidelines and not so focused on whether they have it or not in
their community and they can ignore the
guidelines.
Making sure that everyone
doesn't stay in the same place. As much as we want people to
stay close to home, people have to travel for work
at times. >> That's so true, thank you. And thank you for the question. It reminds me that I want to
acknowledge all the great staff at the regional hospital that
are doing such an amazing job at keeping people
safe and making sure that people stay
healthy. I had the occasion to visit not
so long ago and it's important on what a great job everyone is doing. We are now moving into questions
around long-term care. The government recognizes how
these measures have personally impacted seniors
and their families and they were not taken
lightly. Having said all that, why are we not allowed to see
our parents in long-term care facilities when
they have a gated off patio area and we can be 6
feet away and actually talk to her parents
without a phone. actually talk to her parents
without a phone. Why are we not allowed to bring
treats and drop off for them . Store-bought things like chips
and chocolate bars. >> These guidelines have been
very hard we can understand that for not seeing loved ones for long time.
The emotional piece has been
difficult for people. We are starting to. The health
authorities work with the health officers. work with the health officers. And it could be the next phase
for long-term care. We know the weather is getting
better and lots of areas and it has been noted
that there are outside patios. That are pieces that we are
looking at so families can be reunited and
actually have time together. That will be done very carefully to make sure that our seniors
are Saved. — Kept safe. We know that the virus can live
on surfaces so it's really just trying to keep that to the in and out of
the facility. Obviously if there are any
concerns about families that — family centers being positive
and when family members wait to be
present.
People should speak to the long-term care facility manager if they have any problems with that. >> Is a one family member allowed
into a long-term care facility in an area to help
with the care of a resident? > > Since the weather is getting
better now there's probably opportunities to open
those guidelines a little bit with simple next
steps. I don't think it's going to be a big next step. It will be a very cautious next
step to make sure that people can stay united. >> I do want to send thoughts
out to Michelle and her family. >> It's extremely difficult and the one person difficult and the one person that has family members. It's
not the same as being in person but people are
doing creative things he had doing exactly what we are doing
tonight.
>> Thank you, Michelle and our
prayers and hurt Scott to. — To ensure that we are not having
transmissions from one facility to another
when it comes to COVID-19, since we know that
healthcare staff can bring into our nursing homes,
why are we not testing them all first? >> Anyone can take the virus
into the long-term care facility. This is something we have been
talking about and the single staff being at
one site, that was done as an extreme
precaution to ensure that we were not taking any viruses between
facilities. I would say we have done a great
job between public health officials and our
local staff and also those facilities that we
contract with of making sure that anything
that did pop up was dealt with right away into there
was no passing of the virus to anyone else. I think our facilities have done
a wonderful job. And I think they have done a
great job with staff and ensuring that
they understand what personal protective
equipment to use and making sure all the people they
care for our safe.
I understand why we went to this extreme for
staff, and through the process we were
making sure that no staff member loses any income in
the process. >> Of those seniors of course
are so vulnerable. We have to make sure that those
procedures are put in place. Karen has our next question
which focuses on reopening her business. She asks, when will I be able to
reopen into retirement residential care
facilities to provide, what I believe is
essential for care for seniors.
Mobility is becoming
increasingly difficult for seniors who are still in
lockdown pain >> I have had a few
conversations around footcare and my understanding is that
there is a variety of different types of
individuals that require footcare. However, if this is a medically
necessary service that cannot be provided to, then there is a
process available to an individual available to an individual such as test I can engage to seek an exemption to our
single site order so she could access to the
long-term care facility to provide the services.
>> We are well on the way to getting those surgeries
underway. We have contacted over 1300
people to ask if they would be wanting to do the surgeries at this time. Over the last week we have had more than 700 surgeries. Well on the way back to as much
of a normal circumstance as we can and all
16 hospitals are back up and
running. Trying to get those people in as
quickly as possible so that's the discussion about
healthcare providers and ramp of patients
themselves. Also where we can maximize
surgery so people do not have to stay overnight. We are trying to maximize those
to others to take any strain off the OR
themselves. We will do everything we can to
get as many people in safely for surgery. We do know that the procedures
and safety members — measures that
we are putting in place it does take a bit
longer. About 30% drop in the number of cases that
we put through on a normal day. We are looking to expand our
days and go into the weekends. We are well underway and
hopefully we will get to people as quickly as possible
to get there surgery completed.
>> This is a question that she would like to know that she would like to know when screening test will be done again. I need a mammogram as well. >> Of that MIT is a fit test. Screening for
colon cancer and that's done at a liberatory and then there are mammograms
and other outpatient tests. Any tests that are required for
diagnostics meaning that you were
symptomatic or had some problems, we would
make sure that we brought you again for
that test at some point.
For diagnostics, if it was
something that was urgent your urgent your primary care practitioner would
be advised. For screening, that's actually under the provincial health services and I assume they would get there routine screening back up and
running pretty quick. For any other procedure that is
done at the laboratory it has actually been closed. If it was anything urgent, the
primary care practitioner would say that you
need this done >> We are now moving into the BC
government restart announcement and we know this is
a biweekly process and we have been
encouraged by what we have seen so far but we have to
remember that COVID-19 has a two-week
incubation which keeping that in mind, it's very discouraging and
stressful to see people shopping in stores with
no regard for distancing. What can be done to convince
shoppers to take COVID-19 seriously? >> I have seen them go to
extreme measures of making sure that their stores
are clean, people are doing hand sanitizing
when they come in.
Where a business is not taking
things seriously, if people are worried that the guidelines are produced to
us, we will follow up and obviously work safe BC is involved in this and have
produced a lot of the guidelines for the province. There is an avenue if people
feel there is a blatant disregard for the
guidelines. >> I see a lot of stores taking
it very seriously and I wanted to say, I had to grab a few things
quickly before I got back home for another
meeting and this little guy looked up at
me, and he said excuse me ma'am you're going the wrong way.
It's great to see, and I'm
really happy to see that. that. As I move forward with the
restart plan, we are slowly making steps toward
increasing our bubbles. In practicing outdoor social
distance and visits with friends, can you offer your
bathroom to guests to use? Is it safe to have one couple
for dinner as long as though wing door is
open? >> . To have a few friends over where you could be outside, at
the same time physically distance from one
another. But it's important that you are
distancing from each other and having that distance between each other. I would expect in an outdoor
gathering that someone might have to use the
bathroom. It could be that one bathroom is
designated for the cast and you provide the guest with
some sanitary wipes so they can clean up in the attached
surfaces when they leave the bathroom. And that would keep things much
safer.
>> If a couple comes for dinner and you leave the window open. >> This again speaks to people
wanting to increase their social bubble and we have heard from Doctor
Henry that we are in phase 2 and we can start to
do that a little bit slowly and cautiously with
small groups. That social bubble may be
increased because you are going back to work and maybe it's your work colleagues. Or you might choose to identify one couple or one family that
you want to increase your social bubble
with. Just remember, their contacts
now become your contacts. We need to be very, very
careful. If you're having a couple
indoors and they are part of your social bubble, it probably doesn't matter so
much. What's more important is maintaining distancing and in the hand hygiene. >> Is a lot to remember. How long can our gatherings
start to be in June? >> I'm sure most people are
aware that the provincial health officer order
about math — mass gatherings.
Over 50 people are not allowed
in the province. Those speak to the one time one
event gatherings like a big wedding for example. It does not refer to people like
Costco. Gatherings of over 50 people are
not allowed. Speaking to increasing the
social mobile in phase 2, we want to do it slowly
and carefully. We do want to keep them small at
this point. It's not forever but certainly
in this phase. Again, just keeping in mind that those
you add to your social bubble may have underlying health
conditions or be at higher risk because maybe they
are elderly. >> When can outdoor pools open, and why are they closed? >> I love swimming and my 12-year-old
daughter is asking me when she can go swimming
again.
There are guidelines . Those are going to be allowed
to reopen. And it's not about the water,
there is no evidence of COVID-19 through
water especially when it's chlorinated water as
it would be in swimming pools. Also in the change room, there's
high touch surfaces. >> We have a question that we
hear a lot here and we are on the board and enter border travel has become a
big issue. Something that's top of mind and
with regards to other province travel, we are
considering traveling to med Saskatchewan mid-June. If we do make the trip, would we be required to self isolate? >> One thing we are reporting
for this summer is to stay as close to home as possible. We heard this from Doctor Henry a few times. It's really for us to explore BC
and of the region that we live in and our own town. The recommendation right now is
to stay close to home. As we move, we want to make sure that we are
staying close to home. We do recognize that there's a
lot of travel back and forth for essential services and other
needs that need to be met by both provinces.
>> I think it's a good time to
see what a beautiful province we really do
have. We have some more general
COVID-19 questions for you as well. In a blood test tell you if you
have COVID-19? >> Great question, and we have a
couple of tests and I will speak to both of them
briefly. The test we are familiar with right now is the nasal legend Neil — the nasal test right now. The blood test is something
different. That's a test that looks for antibodies in our blood and there are a number
of good candidates Once we are ready to roll, we will look for antibodies and
those will tell us which people have been infected with COVID-19. And may help us to determine whether someone is immune to COVID-19. >> It looks like we are pretty
much done with the written questions and now we
will taken the ones that people are sending
into us. Can you please tell me why a
private outdoor pool cannot open however public
pools are opening as well as public playgrounds.
>> I cannot speak to that
particular situation not knowing where it is and what
it is. But there certainly should be possible for a pool in
a strata to open. Again, using those precautions. There might be ways to encourage signage and limitations on the
numbers that are in the pool itself and encourage
good sanitation and hygiene while in the pool. Of course people bringing in
their own towels and taking away their own tiles, it's probably something to take
up with the strata itself.
We will be looking for guidance
on when those situations can start. >> I'm just waiting for our next
question to come up here. >> Tell a joke, Doug. >> We have a question about
something she heard from interior health and helping
the homeless. Interior health asked me to open
a feeding program back when the outbreak
began. We serve about 26 Takeaway
meals. When will we be allowed to offer
sitdown breakfasts? So just all the same guidelines
that any restaurant would have and what various guidelines are
posted. >> This is a question from
Darlene.
Our childcare centers being
monitored? >> The short answer is, yes. We do know that daycare centers were not
required to close through phase 1 of the COVID-19 response. Some daycare centers have
remained open from the beginning and some have chosen
to close. There are number of different
guidelines that are available to childcare centers and daycare
centers to be sure that they can safely
operate for the staff and children. We know that could be really
difficult for kids and especially young kids for
physical distance. There is a number of tricks to try to minimize the
contact that they have with each other and of the
staff. So leg in the interior region, we have licensing officers and
they work closely with our daycare facilities to
ensure that they use best practices and
there is safety and care for all children. Yes, they are monitored. >> Before you ask your question,
I want to see big shout out to all the early
childhood educators in the province. Those essential service workers could not work if they did not
have those early childhood educators out there
taking care of the kids every day.
Just a shadow to the great job
that they have been doing. >> They are awesome and thank
you for all of it. If we were to try to reopen, who
do we contact to ensure that our protocols and
risk management plan are acceptable with
interior health? >> It depends on what type of
business that she is trying to reopen but there
are number of excellent guidelines that have
been developed by work see if BC within — safe BC
within the different sectors. It would be important to look
for her sector there and have the guidance document
for that sector. Or number of days without
symptoms. Of course, we would also look
toward the primary care provider to do follow-up of
those recovered patients. Several hours to several days.
It depends on the temperature,
the humidity. Depending on the type of service — surface and one of the
questions have come up about bringing our groceries
home. So I think that there is an innovative approach
right there. >> This question from Brenda is
interesting. She's asking when will doctors
offices open. I know that they didn't really
close because they have been doing
appointments by phone. I guess she's all put —
wondering when they will open for actual
in-person visits. >> There have been a lot of
primary care practitioners and they switched to do a lot of
stuff virtually because they were not very successful at
that. It's not something they can
treat something virtual and they ask you to come to their offices. When they have done that, they
have one way in and one way out. They are doing questions when you come to the door to see
if you have symptoms and obviously if you have, they are treating you quite differently.
They have done a really good job going throughout this and it's
something that we want to do in the health
authority and they didn't have to travel
long distance to go for the visit. They managed to get what they
needed in the virtual space and we would like to keep that
going for those who want to. >> This is a question from
Natasha. This is something we certainly feel and I'm sure missing my grandkids. >> Yes, I think Natasha is
asking within the community versus a healthcare setting. Speaking to the social bubble,
they might want to expand that with some of their family
members that they do not live with. In those cases, it's really a
judgment call whether they want to wear a mask
or not. I think it depends on whether
any of the individuals would be at higher
risk and just a reminder that masks
are for keeping our droplets in. To keep our own droplets in. Don't protect us from other
people. It's just really important to
think about who's most vulnerable and what kind of additional contacts should be added to their social bubble and
maybe we want to minimize adding additional
people to their bubbles.
>> It's a hard one for
grandparents. >> We have garage sales? >> I'm trying to see if I — think if I've seen any in my
neighborhood. I have seen people put out free stuff. I think it's something that's a
possibility. But again, we need to think
about distancing. Any time that we are opening up
our driveway to other people. There is the risk of
congregation and I'm not sure that individual
households would be able to manage that the
way that businesses can where they put
stickers or tape on the floor. So they would have to be very
vigilant about having people line up and being
6 feet apart.
Anytime we have a gathering of
people without proper distancing we have the
risk of transmission of the virus. >> The next question is
certainly top of mind. This is a question from
Courtney. What would it look like for kids
who have chronic illnesses to enter back into the
school system? >> We know that a number of kids and their
parents who decided not to go back to school in June and I don't know what the exact
numbers are. Schools are progressing very
consciously and down to 50% capacity and along with that administration, there are a
number of safety members — measures in
place and kids are really interesting with what we have learned from
COVID-19, they are less likely to be infected, and we see
transmission of COVID-19 when children are involved that
are often with an adult and in a household with
the child.
We have had a very few cases of
children with COVID-19 so they seem to be
spared largely by COVID-19. Given that the individual child
might have underlying health conditions
it's probably best to refer to their primary care
provider. >> My grandkids are pretty
happy. They kept asking every five minutes when they could
laugh — when they could leave. When will the blood test for
antibodies be available? >> We are waiting for that.
I'm hoping it will be within the
next couple of weeks but I do not want to give
an exact date. I'm confident that Doctor Bonnie
Henry will announce that once the antibody
test announce that once the antibody
test passes through that test. >> Here's a PPE question. This question is, can you
address the fact that paperwork fabric masks do not
filter the particle size of the virus? >> We rely in healthcare on medical grade
PPE. And we know in the majority of cases,
surgical and procedural masks are adequate
for protection and if the exceptions are when
there are arrow civilization — so often the masks that we are
using in our so often the masks that we are
using in our healthcare settings do protect
us and others from the virus and
transmission and then there are also the
opportunities for cloth masks or homemade mask to be used by the public.
In those instances when physical
distancing is not possible and of those are made from all
different types of fabrics including things you find around
your house like T-shirts and socks and there a lot of do-it-yourself videos that can
be found online. Masks do have a place and we would encourage the use were physical distancing is not
possible such as crowded areas or even in grocery areas if
physical distancing is not possible, oh hopefully it set up to be
possible there. >> Is there any indication that
the COVID-19 is a vascular disease? >> We are still learning about
COVID-19. It's amazing how much we have
learned in a short period of time. Primarily, it affects the
respiratory system. It could be upper respiratory
and or the lower respiratory system.
In people with more severe
diseases we see pneumonia and sometimes more
severe forms of respiratory distress where
people end up in respiratory care. There are some reports about blood
clotting and increases in blood clots with individuals with COVID-19. I know it's very early days, and
it's likely to be associated with the disease. I think we just need to continue
learning and look at the research that comes
out as it moves on. >> There is a personal question,
and I work and cleaning added
workplace and we must clean everything with bleach. Before COVID-19, we used less harmful products. Is there is a maximum amount of
time someone should be breathing in chlorine
products? >> Someone working with cleaning
products should be following the product guidance guidelines around what personal protective equipment is
needed and how long they should be of — be exposed.
Of course, there are other
avenues to follow through with especially through
the actual employer if they have problems with exposures and work
safe BC can help answer any questions about
that. >> Lori is asking, what happens
with — health officials, how do we know
when is no longer one? >> Yes, that's a question I
cannot answer exactly but I will give it a little bit
of context. The pandemic is a global
phenomenon and it was declared by the World Health
Organization. For number of reasons, but
certainly we were seeing this impact in multiple
countries around the world. In order for pandemic to be declared over, we would need for
COVID-19 to either have a very good effective vaccine that can
be ministered across the world so that people
become immune, or to develop an immunity were
enough people have been exposed to the virus and actually become infected
that they now have immunity.
We still do not have a very good understanding of how long immunity might last
when someone has been affected — infected with COVID-19. Although we are doing so well
here in BC right now, there are other parts of
the world that are not doing well and the World Health
Organization watches that carefully. And then communicates with all of the other countries
as part of it. >> This is another PP question
from Randy. >> This is another PP question
from Randy. He says, with it being widely
accepted that using nonmedical masks will slow
the spread of COVID-19, why is BC not making
it mandatory to wear masks in more places such
as all grocery stores where distances cannot be
guaranteed? >> Is actually incumbent upon
the business to ensure that the protocols can be
followed and that they include things like
distancing.
If a grocery store, for example
feels it's unable to have people maintain physical
distancing, maybe because it would require following the individual around, but the large chains will be
doing that now. It's really up to them, the
business. To make sure that their health and safety
plans are being adhered to to and the most important things
that could be done to prevent the spread are of
course, the distancing but also other things
and barriers that can be put in place. And receive those with the
cashiers as well. If people are concerned about going out and about,
again, they can get a mask or do it yourself by following
the videos online. Trying to keep your distance
when you are out. >> Serious asking, what are your
thoughts on businesses doing temperature checks from their
employees or using a thermal camera to screen employees? >> Temperature checks are not
always the most reliable and they have been used
in other parts of the world but not everyone who has
COVID-19 will have a temperature.
Some people, as we know have had extremely mild symptoms
to the point of not even knowing that they have
had COVID-19 and could still potentially be
spreading him. Certainly people can do a daily health check. Maybe they can say they're doing
well today or not well. If they are feeling sick or not
well, then they could probably stay low — at
home. We are at the five minute
warning. I know the time goes very
quickly. I will read this. It's kind of a question that we are hearing ( we know that there are very few COVID-19 cases in our
region and there have been very few cases in our
region simply because of the wide open spaces and fewer faces.
Why are we not taking a regional
approach to reopening the economy? >> Maybe I will start out
wondering — we cannot assume that there is not people in the
community. I think what is being done well is the great guidelines that
have been put in place and the good advice that our
medical staff are getting communities that we are actually in keeping
with those guidelines so it's not
transmitting it. People are actually doing the
right thing. They are self isolating and not going out. That is also slowing the spread. I don't think that you can think
that there's no one in your community that has
COVID-19. The provincial medical health
officers . We know exactly what he said
earlier that if we increase our social contact so
quickly that it will produce the
opportunity for the virus to research — research — which is something we do not
want.
>> We are almost to the end and
I will pass it over to Emily now. >> I went to thank everyone for their time
tonight. This is the third time we have
done at town hall and I've been so impressed by
your answers and your ability to come up with
really great answers and the knowledge that you have
about this because it's not easy for anyone
and you have both been exemplary in your
work. I want to thank you, and
everyone that got online tonight and sent your questions
and.
I know we cannot answer them
all, but I really appreciate the fact
that people from right across the region
want to know the answers and have really good
questions answers and have really good
questions because it is critical and
everyone has done a good job at lowering the curve. Even kids know what the curve
is, and it has been such a great service for the
people in the province because everyone has
been quite good. I want to thank Doctor Bonnie Henry for the work that
they have done getting the message out and I
think Doctor Henry has very few breaks. And it has been so comforting. We hear that a lot will me go
out and about and we hear people saying that they
feel good and Doctor Henry's promise and her
ability to get some really tough information to
everyone in the province and people are
responding to it really well.
Huge thank you to the people in
the province and I want to thank my cohost, Doug,
I think this is a really great. Showing people across the province that even
though we were on opposite sides of the house, we
can work together and we recognize the importance
of working together and that is done right
across the province. I think this is the 10th town
hall meeting and it's so critically important
that we can work together and share this
information because it's so important. To that end, we actually have some information that we would
like to share about resources that are really
important and I will throw it back to Mancos to
started off on that. >> I also want to thank all of you for your efforts. Credit to the people of British
Columbia. Doctor Bonnie Henry. She has her
own shoes. She is amazing. These townhomes. — Town halls, I'm so proud of
the people of British Columbia and we have
done so well.
We are not out of the woods he
and that's a key message that we have to tell
people. We are far from being over, so
let's not take the foot off the pedal. Provincial support, and COVID-19
information you can visit God.BC.ca\COVID-19 God.BC.ca\COVID-19 and this information is also available by
phone. This phone number works very
well. Let's continue to follow the
public health guidelines to protect ourselves
and loved ones and stop the spread of COVID-19
in BC. For more information on our BC
restart plan. And thank you again to everyone
for joining us this evening and keep well,
be safe and most important, be kind. Thank you..
