COVID-19 Update for October 26: Deadline for Certain BC Healthcare Workers to Get Vaccinated or Lose Their Jobs | 1,618 new cases over the weekend, 20 deaths | Returning home traveler cannot use digital proof of vaccination at YVR | Moderna says vaccine for younger children showed good results

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus situation in British Columbia for October 26, 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 October 25:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 202,516 (4,966 active)
• New cases since October 22: 1,618 (613, 529 and 476)
• Total deaths: 2,129 (20 additional deaths)
• Hospitalized cases: 366 (up to one patient)
• Intensive care: 149 (six more patients)
• Total vaccinations: 4,152,455 received the first dose; 3,010,536 second doses
• Recovered from acute infection: 195,055
• Long-term care and assisted living homes and intensive care facilities currently affected: 29 (the outbreak at Tofino Hospital has been declared over)

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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

Deadline for certain BC healthcare workers to get vaccinated or lose their jobs

A company that operates five long-term care homes in BC expects to issue layoff notices Tuesday to five employees who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CEO of H&H Total Care Services.

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Five other employees chose to resign in the two weeks since the province issued a health order requiring all workers in long-term care and assisted living homes to have at least one COVID vaccine by Oct. 26.

The order was later expanded to include all workers in the intensive care system, including hospitals, with a final deadline for vaccination two weeks later.

H&H employs about 625 workers in its five BC homes, including Hamlets in Duncan and Hamlets on Westside in Kamloops, so the 10 workers represent less than one percent of its workforce.

“When the mandate came out, we were pushing 20 percent” or 125 workers, CEO Hendrik Van Ryk said. “We have had a significant improvement (in the number of vaccinated) in the last two weeks.”

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Read more here.

—Susan Lazaruk

Complete vaccination rate in British Columbia close to 85%

The percentage of fully vaccinated people in British Columbia ages 12 and older has reached 84.4 percent.

On Monday, the British Columbia Ministry of Health reported that 7,029 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered and 19,478 second doses had been administered over the past three days.

1,618 new cases of the disease were reported during the same period and 20 deaths (bringing the total to 2,129).

There are currently 4,966 active cases of the disease, of which 366 are being treated in the hospital, including 149 in intensive care.

BC’s fight against COVID-19 appears to be on a holding pattern, with the situation worst in areas where vaccination rates are low. In much of the province, even though the disease is still present, it appears that a new normal is being established.

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This new rule allows access to most entertainment facilities only for the vaccinated, although they do not dance, and the masks that are always used in an indoor public space.

Traveler returning home unable to use digital proof of vaccination in YVR

Canada’s standardized federal vaccine passport for travelers will be available from October 30, but British Columbia travelers will need, for a time, to carry two proof of vaccination cards, one provincial for local services and one federal for travel. .

In the meantime, there are other issues that need to be fixed, according to some travelers.

New Westminister resident Charles Wangersky recently returned to YVR with his wife and son after a trip to Florida for a family funeral.

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All had met the testing requirements and carried a complete vaccination record issued by BC Wangersky and his wife had their paper cards, while their son, Nick, had a digital version with the QR code.

Wangersky said a Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) official issued him and his wife forms with instructions to self-monitor as Florida is a hot spot.

However, Wangersky said the officer gave his adult son a self-quarantine order for two weeks, as he did not have a scanner to read the QR code.

Read more here.

—Joanne Lee-Young

Moderna says COVID injection for younger children showed good results

Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine showed a strong immune response in younger children in a late-stage clinical trial, paving the way for submission to regulators for approval in children ages six to under 12.

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An interim analysis showed a protective antibody response from the children in the study, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said Monday in a statement. Participants received two 50-microgram doses, half of those initially given to adults, 28 days apart.

Health officials aim to provide vaccinations to younger children before the Christmas season, when travel and activity indoors can increase the risk of infection. As more adults are vaccinated, children now account for a higher proportion of COVID cases in the US amid the spread of the delta variant.

—Bloomberg

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:

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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