Photo: BC gov. Flickr

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry

All adult team sports in British Columbia have been banned this week, after public health officials saw significant transmission of COVID-19 stemming from these activities.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Wednesday that while youth sports will be allowed to continue with practices and training, both indoor and outdoor adult sports must stop for now.

“A number of these adult team sports are really very much social gatherings as well as sport, and unfortunately, those types of gatherings are leading to transmission events,” Dr. Henry said Thursday, adding that about 10 to 15 per cent of all new cases in recent weeks have been linked to physical activity and sports.

“It's the locker room, it's the before, it's the after, it's the going for a coffee or a beer, that has been the most source of transmission ... much of that is built into the culture of the adult team sports.”

Wednesday, she noted an Interior adult hockey team had recently travelled to Alberta, and brought home COVID-19 upon their return, infecting dozens of people. 

But she said youth sports do not appear to have the same transmission rate, although youth games and scrimmages can no longer take place.

“We are hoping we can preserve safely those opportunities for young people, without the riskier parts of what they've been doing, around playing games and travel,” Dr. Henry said. “It will be focusing on skills and drills and keeping safe distances, but allowing those opportunities for kids to get out and participate.”

High-intensity indoor fitness activities – like spin classes, Zumba and high-intensity interval training – have resulted in widespread transmission in B.C., and were banned last month. But lower-intensity activities have also led to transmission in recent weeks, leading to the new measures announced Wednesday banning activities like yoga, tai chi and pilates.

The new measures come as new cases continue to rise rapidly across the province, while new daily deaths have remained in the double digits for two weeks.

But Dr. Henry noted two COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be approved in Canada and rolled out to those at highest risk in January. As more vaccines are approved and become available, more Canadians will be able to access them, but Dr. Henry said Canada does not impose mandatory vaccinations.

“We hope to have everybody done by September of next year ... By the end of the year, anybody who wants the vaccine in B.C. and in Canada should have it available to them,” she said.