The province announced a near-immediate repeal of the mask mandate for indoor public settings, along with an end date to the B.C. Vaccine Passport program. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

MANDATES REPEALED

Mask mandate, vaccine passport program ending as B.C.’s COVID-19 situation improves

Mar 10, 2022 | 12:34 PM

NANAIMO — With COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations and deaths trending down, the province is repealing a majority of the measures in place to reduce spread of the virus.

Effective Friday, March 11, the province-wide mask mandate for indoor public settings will be repealed, ending the policy put back in place in late August 2021 amid the cold and flu season.

Visitation will also be restored to long-term care home settings on Friday, with capacity limits at faith gatherings also lifted.

Meanwhile, the BC Vaccine Card system which required proof of vaccination to enter many indoor public settings and events will be terminated Friday, April 8.

Provincial public health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also announced masks-wearing will no longer be mandated in the K-12 school system when classes resume following spring break.

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A ban on overnight youth camps will no longer apply as of March 11, as will revised childcare safety precautions.

The moves from the provincial health officer come after other provinces including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario came to similar conclusions and either repealed or made plans to repeal their own public health orders.

A graph plotting cases, hospitalizations and deaths linked to COVID-19 between Jan. 1, 2021 and March 7, 2022. (BC Government)

Case counts, hospitalizations and deaths in B.C. have dropped considerably from the peaks of the pandemic’s fourth wave through December 2021 and January 2022 and are currently just below levels seen during the third wave from September and October 2021.

Dr. Henry said B.C. experienced lower and slower numbers of COVID-19 infections of late.

“And our hospital admissions specifically have decreased by about 34 per cent in the last month to less than a hundred new admissions each day.”

To date, just under 91 per cent of British Columbians aged 12 and up have received two doses of vaccine, while 56.3 per cent are considered boosted with a third dose.

Vaccination rates for the greater Nanaimo and Oceanside areas sit just below the provincial averages.

The rate of vaccination with one dose among kids aged five to 11 is 55.7 per cent.

While the indoor mask-wearing and BC Vaccine Card are winding down, Dr. Henry said respective workplaces can still apply the two provisions if they choose to do so.

She expanded on how some people might not be comfortable with the relaxed rules, but said those who still want to wear masks should for added protection.

“particularly if you are older if you are immune-compromised, you may still wear a mask in some locations, especially if you’re inside or around a large number people of people that you don’t know.”

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