Revised: Weekly New Infections Charts
Today in an unusual Wednesday public briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry informed the province that due to a glitch, the number of new infections from the Fraser Health Authority had been reported incorrectly, and just over 1 week’s worth of data had to be corrected. As such, we have updated the affected weekly charts from Monday’s post, and are sharing them again today.
With the revised numbers, as shown above, you can see our cases continue on an upward trend. The revision, unfortunately, added over 500 new cases to last week’s 7-day count, for a new total just shy of 5000 cases. The revisions also affected the current record for most new cases reported in a single day, which now sits at 835 (set on Nov 21st).
Above you can see the newly revised chart breaking down the new cases from the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health Authorities. Previously the Fraser Health Authority had reported just under 3000 cases for the past 7-day reporting period. In fact, the number of new cases had begun to show a small decline compared to the previous reporting period. Unfortunately, with the revised data that downward turn has disappeared, and the trend continues upwards.
Revised: Week-to-Week Growth Rate
Thankfully, even with the revised data, we still see some positive news with the week-to-week growth chart. For the second week in a row, we have seen a decline in the growth rate of new cases in BC. In the previous 7 days, our new case numbers increased by 17.8%, a massive drop from the growth of 50.8% seen just 2 weeks before that. The previous numbers had indicated a growth of just 5.6%, roughly 1/3rd of the final rate. It’s important to remember that the trend is still downward, and if we keep this momentum we may be able to see negative growth in as early as 1-2 more weeks.
$230 Fine For Not Wearing a Mask
Yesterday the BC government announced a new $230 fine for not wearing a mask in indoor public spaces. Such spaces include (but are not limited to) malls, shopping centres, coffee shops, retail and grocery stores, liquor and drug stores, airports, city halls, libraries, community and recreation centres, restaurants, bars and pubs, places of worship, and shared spaces like hallways or elevators in offices or housing complexes.
Exceptions are made for children under 12 where masks are optional (although children under 2 are advised to not wear masks at all), and those who are unable to wear masks for physical, mental, or psychological reasons.
When discussing the mask mandate in her briefing this afternoon, Dr. Bonnie Henry reminded everyone that there are many reasons why a person may not be able to wear a mask and to practice compassion rather than confronting strangers about it. She also mentioned that people not wearing masks should not be denied services, but that alternative arrangements should be made, such as curbside pickup, or arranging times for them to come in when the location is less busy, and distancing can be better maintained.
That’s all for now, stay safe everyone!
BC COVID-19 Info 