What you need to know about COVID-19 in B.C. for Feb. 9

THE LATEST:

• Health officials announced 435 new cases and four deaths on Tuesday.
• There are now 241 patients in hospital with COVID-19 and 68 in intensive care.
• There are 4,393 active cases in B.C.
• A total of 1,263 people have died out of 71,387 confirmed cases in B.C.
• 155,585 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 12,802 second doses.
• A negative COVID-19 test will soon be required to cross Canada's land borders.
• The province is seeking an injunction to stop three Christian churches from holding gatherings.
• More than 20 people were fined for breaking public health orders after RCMP busted an illegal nightclub.
• As of Monday, 25 cases of the variant first found in the U.K. and 15 of the variant reported in South Africa have been confirmed in B.C.
• Restrictions on social gatherings are in force indefinitely.

B.C.'s provincial health officer is seeking an injunction that would ban gatherings by three Christian churches that are challenging her orders suspending in-person religious services.

Lawyers for Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C.'s attorney general will be in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday seeking orders against the leaders of Langley's Riverside Calvary Chapel, Abbotsford's Immanuel Covenant Reformed Church and the Free Reformed Church of Chilliwack.

The province filed an application for the injunction last week, along with a response to a petition by the churches and a handful of others who want to overturn Henry's orders.

The news came as health officials announced 435 new cases and four more deaths on Tuesday. There are now 241 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 68 in intensive care, out of 4,393 active cases across B.C.

To date, there have been 71,387 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C., including 1,263 people who have died.

So far, 155,585 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 12,802 second doses.

Also on Tuesday, the Provincial Health Services Authority announced that CEO Benoit Morin has "left the organization," following a report into alleged misspending on his watch.

The news follows the release of an independent report commissioned in response to CBC reporting about allegations that the PHSA had purchased, and eventually written off, roughly $7 million worth of face masks from a Montreal-based vendor.

Illegal nightclub shut down

In enforcement news, RCMP fined 22 people on Sunday after busting an illegal nightclub around 1 a.m. A statement said the group was found inside the club, breaking public health orders banning gatherings, and some were not wearing face masks. The fines totalled nearly $6,000.

Nationally, the federal government announced Tuesday non-essential travellers entering Canada through the land border will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before arrival as of Feb. 15.

The prime minister said border officers can't legally deny entry to Canadians, but those who show up without proof of a test could face fines of up to $3,000.

Meanwhile, the growing presence of COVID-19 variants of concern in B.C. is fuelling worries that things could get worse again before they get better.

On Monday, Henry said she concurred with the opinion of her Toronto counterpart, who said the highly transmissible variants could mean "we are in the transition of one pandemic to another." 

Henry said, "It does change the game in some ways if it starts to take off and become dominant."

As of Monday, B.C. has confirmed 25 cases of the variant first identified in the U.K. and 15 of the variant first reported in South Africa.

So far, the vast majority have been linked to travel, but as more and more cases are confirmed, Henry said it's important to keep the current restrictions on social gatherings in place to prevent those variants from spreading.

"We are all tired of this, but it can lead us into a brand new charge for increased numbers of cases if we don't keep doing what we're doing," she said.

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READ MORE:

• Community organizers in British Columbia are being credited with helping to bring down the spread of COVID-19 within the South Asian community.
• British Columbia's ombudsperson is calling on the province to make its policy on long-term care visits fair and consistent after receiving complaints from those trying to see loved ones during the pandemic.
• Volunteers with the Steveston Buddhist Temple have folded 1,000 paper cranes, a symbol of hope and recovery, to help lift the spirits of health-care workers.
• A B.C. First Nations leader is calling for unity in the Williams Lake area of the province after recent reports of racism and discrimination related to the pandemic.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many Canadians, but for Chinese-Canadians the impacts have been magnified by racism aimed at individuals and businesses, community leaders say.

What's happening elsewhere in Canada

As of 8 p.m. Monday, Canada had reported 808,120 cases of COVID-19, with 40,175 cases considered active.

A total of 20,835 people have died.