BC officials to give COVID-19 update Tuesday afternoon

BC’s top health officials are scheduled to give an update on COVID-19 on Tuesday afternoon, when more widespread prevention measures may be announced.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will speak alongside Health Minister Adrian Dix and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. Their remarks are supposed to begin at 1:30 pm.

This could be the final COVID-19 briefing before Christmas as many British Columbians weigh their decisions on whether to travel and see family.

The province is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant becomes dominant, similar to what’s going on in the rest of the country.

BC averaged 850 new COVID-19 cases per day over the weekend, and testing centres around Metro Vancouver saw three-hour long lineups.

New restrictions on events and personal gatherings took effect Monday, but the province may clamp down even more as cases rise.