Vancouver Island COVID-19 surge partly fuelled by cluster from Courtenay-area religious gathering
For much of the week, Island Health has been home to the largest number of new and active cases anywhere in the province outside of Fraser Health. On Thursday, the Island’s top doctor explained why.
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health’s chief medical health officer, says there are basically two factors driving the recent surge in cases.
One factor is, essentially, that the Island has been a victim of its own success.
Earlier in the pandemic, when people were following the rules more diligently on the Island than elsewhere, there were more cases on the mainland, so the proportion of people with antibodies for the coronavirus increased more there.
Since the emergence of the more-transmissible Delta variant, that herd immunity on the mainland is helping keep cases lower in spots previously hit harder than the Island, and the Island is currently seeing a relative spike.
The second reason for an uptick in cases is a cluster connected to a religious gathering in the Courtenay area last week, according to Stanwick.
That event has triggered a spike in case counts in the northern part of the Island, fuelling overall island numbers.
But Stanwick says the infections connected to the cluster haven’t been serious.
“The important thing that we’ve learned from this particular situation -- which has largely involved healthy younger adults and individuals between the ages of 10 and 19 – (is) that we've had no hospital admissions,” said Stanwick Thursday. “This may, in fact, be the picture of us dealing with COVID going forward in the future, that we will see significant respiratory outbreaks, but with very little severe consequence.”
Stanwick says he doesn’t think COVID-19 numbers on the island will return to previous lows until February, when he’s hopeful they’ll again hover around 20 to 30 cases per day.
He says he expects to see a spike in cases starting in January because of holiday gatherings and other indoor activities. The wild card in that prediction, of course, is the new Omicron variant.
Stanwick says he wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already on the Island, and predicts it will be identified here before Christmas. He says officials should know in about 10 days whether existing vaccines are effective against Omicron.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW What Canada is doing about the toxic forever chemicals in drinking water
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Arrest made, manslaughter charge pending in 2022 death of Calgary toddler
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
Prince William returns to public duties after wife Kate's cancer revelation
Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson Airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Here's why experts don't think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai's downpour
Scientists say it's highly unlikely cloud seeding is responsible for the heavy rains that have caused flooding in the United Arab Emirates this month, and that climate change is the more likely culprit.