BC well positioned to enter next step of COVID-19 restart plan: Henry

After first being hinted at earlier this week, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Henry says that British Columbia is well-positioned to enter the next step of its COVID-19 restart plan.

The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon, during which health officials provided an update on BC’s epidemiological modelling.

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One of the most positive takeaways is that, as a combined result of safety measures and high immunization rates, virus transmission is trending down for the first time in many, many months.

Henry said that the province will share more details surrounding Step 2 of its restart plan next week. She also added that given BC’s current scenario, the province could even manage an increase in cases, should it occur.

“What we are seeing is that yes, even with increased contact, so [an] increased contact rate as much as 80% over the next few weeks, we are likely to see more cases arise,” she explained. “But they’re not going to be widely transmitted in our communities like we have seen before.”

Henry says that the province can manage a “slight increase” in cases as the reopening moves forward over the next few weeks.

“We will be in a good position to continue safely moving forward with our restart plan and we’ll be talking more about that next week as we move into the next phase of our plan.”

Henry and Dix say that they’ll share more details on Monday regarding Step 2 of BC’s restart plan. They’ll be joined by Premier John Horgan.