COVID-19 Update for Nov 12: Older People Struggled With Vaccine Card: Study | Exposure alerts for 16 flights to and from BC | Delta variant subtype spreading in western Canada: health officials

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus situation in British Columbia for November 12, 2021.

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We will provide summaries of what is happening in BC right here so you can get the latest news at a glance. This page will be updated periodically throughout the day, and updates will be 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 on weekends at 7pm by signing up for our newsletter. here.

BC COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

According to the latest figures given on November 10:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 210,758 (4,321 active)
• New cases since November 9: 555
• Total deaths: 2234 (11 additional deaths)
• Hospitalized cases: 426 (reduction of 22)
• Intensive care: 124 (less than 7)
• Total vaccinations: 4,195,116 received the first dose; 4,003,628 second doses
• Recovered from acute infection: 203,909
• Long-term care and assisted living homes and acute care facilities currently affected: 29

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IN DEEP: Here are all the cases of BC from the new coronavirus in 2021 | in 2020

BC GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: Here is everything you need to know about the new coronavirus

• COVID-19: The BC Vaccine Passport is here and this is how it works

• COVID-19: Here’s how to get vaccinated in British Columbia

• COVID-19: Find your neighborhood on our interactive map of cases and vaccination rates in BC

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

• COVID-19: Five things to know about the spread of the P1 variant in BC

• 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

Research project finds older people struggled with BC vaccination card

Confusion among some older people about the implementation of the BC vaccination card could have been addressed through consultations prior to implementation, according to the findings from a community study .

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Researchers are describing the experience of older people with the vaccination card as an example of the digital divide: the gap between a society where information is increasingly digital and the inability of some people to access what they need.

For older people, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic has moved many government functions online, such as applying for the monthly Old Age Security.

“It would be a good idea for decision makers to involve older people and community organizations and invite them to the table when decisions are being made,” said Hannah Shin, a community researcher.

“We need to make sure that everyone has accessible information in multiple modes of communication strategies. We simply assume that everyone receives your news through social media. That is not the case “.

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the rapid assessment project was conducted by Simon Fraser University Research Institute of Science and Technology for Aging (STAR) and 411 Seniors Care Center Society .

– Kevin Griffin

Exposure notices issued for 16 flights

The BCCDC has issued exposure notices for 16 flights to and from BC between October 28 and November 7. These are:

October 28
• Delta 3809, from Seattle to Vancouver

October 29th
• United Airlines 5671, Denver to Vancouver
• WestJet 3316, Vancouver to Kelowna

30th of October
• WestJet 123, from Calgary to Vancouver
• WestJet 3447, Calgary to Terrace

31 October
• Sunwing 281, from Vancouver to Cancun
• WestJet 3378, Abbotsford to Calgary

November 2
• Air Canada 312, from Vancouver to Montreal

November 4th
• Air Canada / Jazz 8827, Chicago to Vancouver
• WestJet 3233, Calgary to Abbotsford

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November 5th
• Swoop 207, Edmonton to Abbotsford

November 6th
• WestJet 1865, Honolulu to Vancouver
• WestJet 3315, from Calgary to Comox

November 7
• Delta 4062, from Seattle to Vancouver
• Sunwing 282, from Cancun to Vancouver
• WestJet / Delta 3295/7069, Vancouver to Victoria

You can see a complete list of public exhibitions here .

Subtype of COVID-19 Delta Variant Spreading in Western Canada: Health Officials

A subtype of the COVID-19 variant is becoming predominant in Saskatchewan and is spreading throughout western Canada, but health officials say it is not considered a variant of concern.

Subtype AY.25.1 likely originated in the American Midwest, where it mutated, said Dr. Jessica Minion, a medical microbiologist with the Saskatchewan Health Authority who presented the information at a health authority meeting last week. .

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In Saskatchewan, AY-25.1 and another subtype, AY.27, have largely displaced the original Delta variant. The AY-25.1 is also spreading interprovincially in Alberta and British Columbia.

Health officials in western Canada say the subtype is no longer contagious.

“There is no evidence that it causes a more serious disease, which evades the protection of the vaccine, that is significantly different from the Delta variant that has been circulating,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer for health, during a COVID-19 instructions.

“When viruses replicate, they can change their genetics slightly, so sometimes you have these sub-lineages that evolve. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they behave differently from the parent strain, and that’s the case for this particular sublineage. “

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Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s director of medical health, said the public shouldn’t read too much about the subtype.

—The Canadian press

The body’s memory of the coronavirus can abort new infections

Healthcare workers who did not test positive for COVID-19, despite heavy exposure to infected patients, had T cells that attack a part of the virus that allows it to make copies of itself, according to a published report. Wednesday at Nature .

Researchers studying the 58 healthcare workers found that their T cells responded more strongly to a part of the virus, called RTC, which is very similar in all human and animal coronaviruses, including all variants of SARS-CoV- 2.

They suspect that the T cells recognized RTC because they had “seen” it in other viruses during other infections. That makes RTC a potentially good target for vaccines if more research confirms these findings, study leaders Mala Maini and Leo Swadling, both of University College London, said in a joint email to Reuters. This data was collected during the first wave of the pandemic, they added.

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“We do not know if this type of control occurs for more infectious variants that are currently circulating.”

– Reuters

BC MAP OF WEEKLY COVID CASE RECORDS, VACCINATION RATES

Find out how your neighborhood is doing in the battle against COVID-19 with the latest number of new cases, positivity rates, and vaccination rates:

BC VACCINES FOLLOW-UP

LOCAL RESOURCES for information on COVID-19

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

• BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

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

• 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