By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

WEEKEND REPORT

Restrictions on gathering, activities set to loosen slowly over coming weeks

Mar 8, 2021 | 3:39 PM

NANAIMO — The province is eyeing a deliberate return to normal as the winter weather subsides and temperatures increase.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said current restrictions banning gatherings, events and some sports could begin to be lifted as soon as the middle of March.

“We can start to look at this modified return of some of the activities that we have had on pause for the last months of winter. We are not going to rush to get things open, but we will take a thoughtful, careful and phased approach over the next few weeks.”

The province put a pin in many fitness activities and gatherings outside a family unit during the winter months because the weather made those impractical to do outside. Adult sports and religious services are also being examined for reinstatement.

She said COVID-19 will be contended with during the summer but the province will be better prepared this year than in the first few months of the pandemic in 2020.

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“As we head into March break…seeing the return of things like gatherings outside where it’s safer, activities outside that we can do in groups with precautions in place.”

The news came as B.C. confirmed 1,462 new cases from the last three reporting periods over the weekend.

Island Health confirmed 68 new COVID-19 cases over the same time span, with 43 coming in the central Island region.

The number of active cases in the health authority dropped by 25 to 231. Fifty-six per cent of the active COVID-19 cases in Island Health are in the central Island region.

There is a data discrepancy between Island Health and the province, based on the timing of COVID-19 results. NanaimoNewsNOW reports local verified data from Island Health.

Across B.C., 4,854 cases are active which represents a slight decrease from Friday, March 3.

Of the active cases, 240 people are in hospital with 66 of those patients receiving intensive care. Both are decreases from what the province reported on Friday.

Eleven people passed away over the weekend, with now 1,391 having lost their lives due to COVID-19.

Appointments opened Monday for the general public to receive the vaccine, with non-Indigenous people aged 90 or over eligible, along with First Nations elders aged 65 and over.

Despite only around 80,000 people currently eligible, the call centre received 1.7 million calls in less than three hours Monday morning.

Dr. Henry pleaded with people to wait their turn.

“Calling this week if you’re outside this first age group will not speed up your turn but it may cause more delays for people trying to get appointments for loved ones or themselves who are in this first phase.”

A total of 333,327 doses of vaccine were administered to date, including 86,925 second doses which have largely stopped after the province extended the time between the two out to 16 weeks.

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