Dr. Henry extends gathering and events ban through to Feb. 5

Photo: BC gov. Flickr

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry

UPDATE: 4:50 p.m.

With the ban on indoor social gatherings and events extended for another month, Dr. Bonnie Henry said they'll be closely monitoring new case numbers and hospitalizations in the province to determine if further action is needed. 

The ban was first put in place provincewide on Nov. 19, but Dr. Henry extended the public health order through to Feb. 5 on Thursday. 

“We are closely monitoring our progress and if further action is required, we will take that. If we see positive trends in our cases and our hospitalizations, and we see a lessening of our impacts, we will monitor that as well,” Dr. Henry said. 

“Right now we need to hold the line. Our public health orders for the next two incubation periods are important to ensure we are doing all we can to keep everyone in our province as safe as possible.”

She said the orders are in place to reduce community transmission, so B.C.'s healthcare system can continue to function properly, essential businesses can remain open and children can continue attending school.

“The number of new cases we are seeing in every health authority shows us that some people made the decision to make an exception for themselves. It may seem inconsequential, it may not have been done with the understanding of the impact it could have, but if 10,000 people – a few people in every town, every village or city in our province – makes these small concessions for themselves, that increases all of our risks exponentially," Dr. Henry said. 

“This virus doesn't know that we haven't seen our friends in months, it doesn't know that it's our grandmother's birthday ... when we let our guard down, it's transmitted."

ORIGINAL: 3:35 p.m.

The public health order banning all indoor social gatherings and events of all kinds has been extended for another month. 

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry put the public health order in place provincewide on Nov. 19, after a two-week trial in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. That order was set to expire on Jan. 8, but Dr. Henry extended the order during her press conference Thursday. 

The order bans indoor social gatherings of any size with people outside your household. An exception can be made for those living alone, who are allowed to have two close contacts over. 

The order also prohibits any events or mass gatherings of any size, including at places of worship. Exceptions have been made for things like baptisms, weddings and funerals, which may still proceed with a maximum of 10 people. Things like AA meetings and after-school programs held in places of worship may also still proceed.

The full order can be found here.

Dr. Henry noted that the number of daily COVID-19 cases has been slowly rising in recent days, while hospitalizations are at all-time highs. She said they are closely monitoring these figures, but urged British Columbians must "stay the course" over the next month to protect the province's vulnerable. 

She said contact tracing has shown some people have defied the public health order on social gatherings, giving the example of transmission at small parties with friends who've returned from Europe. 

Dr. Henry said with the province's vaccination program in place, "the end is in sight," but it will still "be a while" until B.C. gets back to normal.