Thursday Health briefing could bring end to mask mandate as most BC communities see COVID cases/Hospitalizations on decline

Data from BC CDC shows a continued decline for the number of
cases of COVID reported in the province

British Columbians will hear later today what steps that the Provincial Government and Public Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry will be taking to relax the current COVID restrictions, with expectations high that a removal of the mask mandate and potential end for the vaccine passport program may be on the agenda for an afternoon briefing.

The health briefing from the Doctor and Health Minister Adrian Dix will address a range of COVID related themes is scheduled for 12:30 and you can find a livestream of it from the BC Government Facebook page.

The prospects for those relaxations comes as the weekly BC CDC reports continue to show a continued decline in the number of reported cases and as hospitalizations also continue to drop province wide.

This week's data provided for a significant decline in COVID cases was recorded for Terrace in the latest reporting period from the BC CDC, with the region which had 85 cases one week ago, dropping to 40 cases recorded from February 27-March 5.

The results for Prince Rupert provided for a slight uptick from a week ago, with 9 cases recorded up two from a week ago. Smithers also recorded a slight increase

Most other communities held to the level of last week or recorded a slight decline.

Haida Gwaii once again saw an increase for the reporting period increasing by four, to a total of 17

The full review across the region for the week of February 27-March 5  from the BC CDC looks as follows:

Terrace -- 20 cases
Haida Gwaii --  17 cases 
Smithers -- 13 cases

Prince Rupert -- 9 cases

Bella Coola Valley --  9 cases

Kitimat --  8 cases

Nechako --   5 cases

Upper Skeena --  5 cases

Burns Lake -- 5 cases

Nisga'a Region --  4 cases

Central Coast -- 1 case

Snow Country-Stikine-Telegraph Creek --  1 case

Wednesday's provincial report lists  29 new cases of COVID for the Northern Health region, that makes for a drop of 30 cases from a week ago.

For the Northern Health Region in total as of Wednesday, 32 patients are listed as in hospital which is a decline of 10 from last week,  with 5 noted as in Critical Care, which is a decline of two from a week ago.

The  breakdown of hospitalizations by community in the Northern Health region is not included in the data release information.

COVID review for March 9
Northern Health Region

COVID review for March 9
 All of British Columbia

The full report from the Province for Wednesday can be reviewed here.  

The larger BC CDC Data release is available here.

Past information statements on COVID and other notes on the Northwest response can be reviewed from our archive page.