COVID-19 update for March 17: Canada scraps pre-arrival testing requirement | Eight deaths reported Wednesday; outbreak at Surrey Memorial

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the coronavirus situation in BC for March 17, 2022.

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We’ll provide summaries of what’s going on in BC right here so you can get the latest news at a glance. This page will be updated regularly throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.

Check back here for more updates throughout the day. You can also get the latest COVID-19 news delivered to your inbox weeknights at 7 pm by subscribing to our newsletter here.

BC’S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

Here are the latest figures given on March 16:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 353,139
• New cases: 235
• Total deaths: 2,953* (eight in the past 24 hours)
• Hospitalized cases: 329
• Intensive care: 51
• Total vaccinations: 4,523,491 received first dose (90.7% of eligible pop. 5+); 4,328,146 second doses (86.8%); 2,630,945 third doses (56.8% of those 12+)
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: Nine

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* A data correction has resulted in this total being reduced by one

A FONDO: Here are all the BC cases of the novel coronavirus in 2021 | in 2020

BC GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: BC’s vaccine passport is here and this is how it works

• COVID-19: Afraid of needles? Here’s how to overcome your fear and get vaccinated

• COVID-19: Here’s where to get tested in Metro Vancouver

• BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

LATEST NEWS on COVID-19 in BC

3 pm or later – Health officials are set to share latest figures on COVID-19 in BC

Health officials are expected to update the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries across the province.

Vaccinated travelers won’t need COVID-19 test to enter Canada as of April 1

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Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says vaccinated travelers will no longer need to show a COVID-19 test to enter Canada beginning April 1.

Incoming tourists will still need to be vaccinated to visit Canada, and all inbound travelers must also upload their details to the ArriveCan app.

Duclos says vaccinated people could also still be subject to random molecular tests when they arrive at Canadian airports.

Unvaccinated Canadians who are returning to the country will still need to isolate and be tested on arrival, and again eight days later.

The news comes at the tail end of the Omicron wave in Canada, as new reported cases of COVID-19 have declined since mid-January.

The World Health Organization says the number of cases internationally has begun to creep up in the Western Pacific region, Africa and Europe.

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–Canadian Press

Eight deaths reported Wednesday; outbreak at Surrey Memorial

BC reported eight more deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of lives lost in the province to 2,953.

The total death toll since the start of the pandemic has been reduced by one today due to a data correction.

An outbreak has been declared at Surrey Memorial Hospital, raising the number of active outbreaks in acute and long-term care to nine.

Six of the other outbreaks, all in long-term care, are in the Island Health region. The remaining two are in the BC Interior.

There are 329 people hospitalized with COVID-19 including 51 in intensive care.

—Joseph Ruttle

BC to review how its COVID 19 pandemic response decisions were made

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The BC government will conduct an independent review of its operational response to the COVID-19 pandemic to help it prepare and respond to emergencies.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has appointed a three-person team, including two former deputy ministers and a public policy consultant, to do the review.

A news release from the ministry said the team’s consultations will include government agencies, First Nations, independent regulators and others to determine what worked and what can be improved.

It is also accepting written feedback from residents until April 20 about how they or their business have been affected by measures taken by the province.

The ministry says the scope of the review does not include an assessment of public policy, provincial health or economic recovery decisions, but it will look at how those choices were made.

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The report is expected by the fall.

— The Canadian Press

Canada to lift pre-arrival COVID testing for travelers

Canada is expected to announce on Thursday that travelers entering the country will no longer have to take a pre-arrival COVID-19 test, CBC News and CTV News are reporting Wednesday, citing sources.

Canada will be removing the testing requirements at airports and land border crossings, CBC News said, adding that the requirements will be dropped by the end of March.

On Feb. 28, vaccinated travelers no longer needed a molecular COVID-19 test to enter Canada and instead could opt for a rapid antigen test approved by the country they are coming from.

— Reuters

DEATHS BY HEALTH AUTHORITY

WHAT’S HAPPENING ACROSS CANADA

LOCAL RESOURCES for COVID-19 information

Here are a number of information and landing pages for COVID-19 from various health and government agencies.

• BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

• Vancouver Coastal Health – Information on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

• HealthLink BC – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page

• BC Center for Disease Control – Novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

• Government of Canada – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update

• World Health Organization – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak

–with files from The Canadian Press