COVID-19 update for Feb. 15: Here’s the latest on coronavirus in B.C.

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for Feb. 15, 2021.

We’ll provide summaries of what’s going on in B.C. 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 p.m. by subscribing to our newsletter here.

B.C.’S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

As of the latest figures given on Feb. 12
• Total number of confirmed cases: 72,750 (4,347 active)
• New cases since Feb. 11: 445
• Total deaths: 1,288 (10 new)
• Hospitalized cases: 226
• Intensive care: 61
• Total vaccinations: 162,982 first doses, 17,562 second doses.
• Cases under public health monitoring: 7,035
• Recovered: 67,008
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 22

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IN-DEPTH:COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus

B.C. GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: Here’s everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus

• COVID-19 FAQ: What you need to know about the vaccine rollout in B.C.

• COVID-19: Have you been exposed? Here are all B.C. public health alerts

• COVID-19 at B.C. schools: Here are the school district exposure alerts

• COVID-19: Avoid these hand sanitizers that are recalled in Canada

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

• B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

LATEST NEWS ON COVID-19 IN B.C.

12:30 p.m. – Canada to rev up vaccine rollout

Canada’s sluggish vaccination efforts are expected to get a big boost starting this week as the federal government prepares for a ramp up in the delivery of shots from Pfizer and BioNTech.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says more than 335-thousand doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will land this week, the single largest shipment since the pandemic began.

The Public Health Agency’s number is based on five doses per vial, but Pfizer says it will actually deliver nearly 400-thousand shots this week after the agency agreed to six doses per vial.

The company is expected to deliver even more doses the following week, and has promised to make good on its promise to deliver a total of 4 million shots to Canada by the end of March.

The ramp up follows a month-long lull in deliveries from Pfizer as the pharmaceutical giant scaled back production to expand a plant in Europe

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Canada is not expected to receive any vaccine doses from Moderna this week as the company only delivers shots every three weeks.

– The Canadian Press

8:30 a.m. – Nearly 13 per cent of Vancouverites received CERB

The city of Vancouver had about 12.82 per cent of its residents receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) last year.

An analysis of federal data by The Canadian Press shows that the city had on average 67,207 recipients during each four-week pay period for the pandemic aid.

Over its lifespan between late March and October of last year, the CERB paid out nearly $82 billion to 8.9 million people in Canada whose incomes crashed either because they saw their hours slashed or lost their jobs.

In the first four-week period, there were 113,810 people in the city receiving the CERB, and the figure fell from there.

There were 79,670 in the second period, 69,810 in the third, 60,970 in the fourth, 52,980 in the fifth, 49,880 in the sixth, and 43,330 in the final month before a trio of new benefits and a revamped employment insurance system replaced CERB.

The figures come from federal data The Canadian Press obtained under the Access to Information Act that provides the most detailed picture yet of where the aid went.

– The Canadian Press 

8:30 a.m. – New rules in effect for travellers entering Canada at land border crossings

New rules went into effect this morning for travellers crossing from the U.S. into Canada at land border points.

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With exceptions for essential travellers, people driving into the country must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken in the U.S. within 72 hours.

Or they must offer proof of a positive test result between 14 and 90 days before arrival, which is long enough for the illness to have passed, but not so long that immunity might have waned.

As of Feb. 22, travellers arriving at land border points will also be required to take COVID-19 tests upon arrival.

That is also the date that air travellers will be forced into a mandatory three-day hotel quarantine at their own expense and required to take multiple COVID-19 tests.

– The Canadian Press

8 a.m. – Reports of domestic violence continue to rise during pandemic

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop a rising tide of reports of domestic violence, experts say, warning that the stress of life in lockdown continues to put victims at risk.

Canada’s Assaulted Women’s Helpline fielded 20,334 calls between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, compared to 12,352 over the same period the previous year, said Yvonne Harding, manager of resource development at the organization.

“It’s very disturbing to know that there are so many women who are in this really precarious situation,” she said. “There may have been limited support for them beforehand, but at least they had outlets.”

Harding said opportunities to leave the house to get help — such as daily trips to and from school — have in many cases been eliminated during the pandemic.

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Access to friends and family has also been cut off, she said, leaving victims with fewer options.

Call volumes spiked almost immediately when swaths of Canada first locked down, Harding said.

Between April 1 and Sept. 30, the centre received 51,299 calls, compared to 24,010 in the same time in 2019.

– The Canadian Press

8 a.m. – Calls for disclosure of $4.6 billion worth of contracts with vaccine manufacturers have prompted a cabinet filibuster

There are calls to disclose $4.6 billion worth of contracts with vaccine manufacturers and that has caused a cabinet filibuster in parliament.

Liberal MPs on the Commons health committee have put on the back burner a vote to compel the release of the terms to legislators, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Sure, it’s great to look as an armchair quarterback, ‘Well they could’ve, would’ve, should’ve,’ but we are in unprecedented times. We are turning over every rock,” said Liberal MP Wayne Long from Saint John-Rothesay.

“We were elected to govern and we were elected to lead. We have led.”

The government had promised to free COVID vaccines to every Canadian by Sept. 30, something the opposition says isn’t possible.

So far, only about three per cent of the population has had the COVID jab, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

– Postmedia News

8 a.m. – Full flight leaves Vancouver and Calgary bound for Hawaii despite new rules

Another plane full of Canadians has departed Vancouver and Calgary bound for Hawaii, despite a new law that will add $2,000 to each passenger’s vacation.

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According to the Government of Hawaii’s COVID-19 travel data portal, 114 passengers from Calgary and Vancouver arrived on Saturday Feb. 13 aboard a WestJet flight.

There were no flights from Western Canada to Hawaii during the previous six days, after 123 people arrived last Saturday, and over 100 the Saturday before. With social distancing in place, 100 passengers makes for a full flight.

Upon arrival the passengers are free to roam in Hawaii, having proven before departure that they do not have COVID-19 (as part of Hawaii’s Safe Travels Program.)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan have asked that no one travel anywhere on non-essential business, though it is not strictly outlawed.

Instead, the government has been gradually applying travel pressures, like the Jan. 7 rule that anyone coming to Canada by air had to prove a negative COVID-19 test result before departing home.

As of next Monday, all passengers arriving by air into Canada will have to take a test upon arrival and then stay in a government-approved hotel for three days until they get a negative test result — this is expected to cost about $2,000.

– David Carrigg, Postmedia

Sunday, Feb. 14

7 p.m. – All students and staff in one class at a Kamloops elementary class ordered to isolate

Parents of children in one class at South Kamloops Elementary school have been told to isolate their kids until Feb. 26 after they were potentially exposed to COVID-19. According to a letter, the exposures occurred on Feb. 4, 5, 8 and 12.

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There have been exposures at six Kamloops schools since early February. There is an active outbreak at Royal Inlands Hospital in Kamloops.

5:00 p.m. — Five more flights added to airline exposure list

After issuing alerts for seven flights to and from Vancouver flagged for possible COVID-19 exposures earlier in the day, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has added five more flights between Jan. 31-Feb. 11. The affected flights are:

• Jan 31: WestJet 3315, Calgary to Comox

• Feb 9: Air Canada 106, Vancouver to Toronto

• Feb 10: Air Canada 8550, Vancouver to Regina

• Feb 10: Canadian North 5T1501, Terrace to Edmonton

• Feb. 11: Flair 8101, Vancouver to Toronto

The BCCDC says passengers seated near a case of COVID-19 will no longer be directly notified of their potential exposure.

For row information, visit the BCCDC’s full list of all exposure flights here.

The centre says all passengers on a domestic flight with a COVID-19 case should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days, while all international passengers are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada.

11:45 a.m. — Oxford tests AstraZeneca vaccine on children

Oxford University has launched a study with AstraZeneca Plc to assess the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine in children for the first time, the university reports.

The new trial will determine whether the vaccine is effective on children and young adults between the ages of 6-17. The new trial will enrol 300 volunteers.

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While most children are relatively unaffected by the virus, “it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children may benefit from vaccination,” said Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial.

– Bloomberg news

9:30 a.m. – Seven flights added to airline exposure list

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has issued alerts for possible COVID-19 exposures on seven flights to and from Vancouver between Feb. 3-11. The affected flights are:

• Feb 3: Cathy Pacific 888, Hong Kong to Vancouver
• Feb 6: Air Canada 44, Vancouver to Delhi
• Feb 6: WestJet 139, Calgary to Vancouver
• Feb 7: Air Canada 8239, Terrace to Vancouver
• Feb 7: Air Canada 8414, Vancouver to Kelowna
• Feb 11: Air Canada 103, Toronto to Vancouver
• Feb 11: Sunwing Airlines 2860, Mexico City to Vancouver

The BCCDC says passengers seated near a case of COVID-19 will no longer be directly notified of their potential exposure.

For row information, visit the BCCDC’s full list of all exposure flights here.

The centre says all passengers on a domestic flight with a COVID-19 case should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days, while all international passengers are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada.

B.C. VACCINE TRACKER

LOCAL RESOURCES for COVID-19 information

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

• B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

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

• HealthLink B.C. – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page

• B.C. Centre 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