COVID-19 update for March 25: 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 March 25, 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 March 25:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 94,769 (5,856 active)
• New cases since March 24: 800
• Total deaths: 1,446 (5 new)
• Hospitalized cases: 306
• Intensive care: 79
• Total vaccinations: 523,459 people have received one of the three approved vaccines – including 87,212 who have received a second dose.
• Cases under public health monitoring: 9,964
• Recovered: 87,351
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 10

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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.

3 p.m. – B.C. reports highest daily case count this year and five deaths

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has reported 800 new cases of COVID-19 over the past day and five deaths.

She said there are now 5,856 active cases of the disease in B.C. — almost 300 higher than reported on Wednesday. Of those cases, 306 are being treated in hospital, including 79 in intensive care.

Of the cases reported, 191 are variants of concern. Henry said she expects the more contagious variants to take over as the most common form of COVID-19 in B.C.

There were a record 24,000 vaccines administered on Wednesday, with 523,459 people having received one of the three approved vaccines — including 87,212 who have received a second dose.

There is one new health-care facility outbreak at Chilliwack General Hospital.

— David Carrigg

1 p.m. – B.C. to allow more visitors in long-term care homes, provides variance for indoor worship

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Friends and family of people in long-term care facilities in B.C. will be able to visit their loved ones again as of next Thursday.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that all residents can have frequent and routine opportunities for social visitation, starting April 1.

Henry also lifted the physical distancing restriction among residents of a facility, which allows the resumption of communal dining and some group activities.

Also on Thursday, Henry announced a variance that allows places of worship to hold indoor services in B.C. between March 30 to May 13. Those dates were selected to include important holidays among different faith communities, she said.

— David Carrigg

10:30 a.m. – B.C. hikes fine for attending events that flout pandemic measures

It just got more expensive to attend a large party defying COVID-19 public health measures.

On Thursday, B.C. more than doubled the fine for promoting and attending a non-compliant gathering or event from $230 to $575.

The fine for those who organize or host a prohibited event remains at $2,300, while fines for a range of COVID-19 violations including not wearing a mask remain at $230.

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— Cheryl Chan

9:30 a.m. – Blood clotting cases not linked to AstraZeneca vaccine, says Health Canada

Health Canada’s chief medical adviser says the three cases of blood clotting reported so far out of 300,000 Canadians who have received at least one dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca have no apparent link to the vaccine.

Dr. Supriya Sharma says one case involved a pulmonary embolism and two cases involved a stroke, but none resembled the very rare brain blood clot associated with extremely low platelet counts identified in Europe, where a relative handful of cases have stirred fears.

Sharma says clinicians and doctors in Canada are conducting a “causality assessment” for all three cases, establishing so far that one of the two stroke cases was likely due to causes unrelated to the vaccine.

She says blood clotting rates are the same or even higher among people who have not received the AstraZeneca vaccine than for those who’ve been jabbed.

— The Canadian Press 

9 a.m. – 11 per cent of Canadians have received a vaccine

Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has reached a double-digit milestone, as 11 per cent of the country’s adult population is now at least partially protected from the virus.

Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says the country has surpassed the 10 per cent mark of residents over 18 who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Njoo adds, however, that 11 per cent isn’t enough to stop the spread of the virus, and more transmissible variants continue to pose a “significant threat” as widespread protection is still not established.

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— The Canadian Press 

7:30 a.m. – B.C. residents 75+ can book vaccinations today 

B.C. is accelerating its age-based vaccine schedule, and British Columbians aged 75 (born in 1946) and older are able book a COVID-19 appointment starting 12 p.m. today.

Provincial health officials have been able to expedite B.C.’s vaccine rollout because of a decision to extend second doses to four months from three to four weeks and expected increased vaccine deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

On Friday, seniors aged 74 can book their vaccine appointments. (Click here for more information on the government’s booking schedule).

People born in 1945 or earlier can book at any time.

The province has not yet announced the booking schedule for seniors younger than 74.

Here is the contact list of regional health authority call centres:
• Fraser Health: 1-855-755-2455
(Fraser Health also has online booking: Fraserhealth.ca/vaccinebookinginfo)
• Interior Health: 1-877-740-7747
• Island Health: 1-833-348-4787
• Northern Health: 1-844-255-7555
• Vancouver Coastal Health: 1-877-587-5767

The call centres will ask for:
• Legal name;
• date of birth;
• postal code;
• personal health number (PHN) from the back of B.C. driver’s licences or B.C. services cards;
• current contact information, including an email address or phone number to receive texts.

6 a.m. – Void in public health advice for the COVID-vaccinated: I’ve had my shot, what now? 

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Canadians needed advice weeks ago about what people can do once vaccinated, infectious disease experts say. Yet federal health leaders insist it’s still too soon to issue any kind of guidance.

“The public needs to know what are recommended behaviours,” said infectious diseases physician and University of Toronto professor of medicine Dr. Andrew Morris.

“Otherwise they will make their own decisions, which is fine. But they should have their decisions made on the best available evidence.”

Even Ottawa’s expert vaccine advisors are awaiting guidance.

“We have asked that same question of the Public Health Agency of Canada. We’ve asked them when they’re going to be making their recommendation,” said Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, co-chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. “They seem to be working on it, but we’re not part of that decision.”

With vaccinations accelerating, and a promised 9.5 million combined doses due to be delivered by the end of March, and a million or more weekly doses over April and May, many are, or will soon be wondering, I’ve had my shot, now what? What are the rules? What’s acceptable behaviour and what’s not?

 — Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News

6 a.m. – Canada tops a list of 31 countries where the ultra-rich can invest and shelter from COVID-19

In the report, Greg Lindsay, director of Applied Research at NewCities, wrote that “it’s no coincidence the first nation to pre-emptively close its border with the U.S. a year ago tops the Investment Migration Programs Health Risk Assessment.”

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Though its citizenship-by-investment program doesn’t particularly stand out, Lindsay said, “true to form, Canada’s quiet competency, deference to authority, and historical ‘garrison mentality’ — as seen in (the Atlantic) provinces walling themselves off from the rest of the country to great success — culminated in the best overall score.”

Canadians “simply persevered, with a death rate that’s middling globally but is less than half of that of its larger neighbour,” Lindsay said, adding that the government has shamed anti-maskers and mostly succeeded in uniting its citizens behind its pandemic response.

— Shari Kulha, National Post

12 a.m. – Inside a Surrey vaccination clinic as the first teachers get their shots

An exuberant Fiona Coupar, a drama teacher at Surrey’s École Panorama Ridge secondary school, received her COVID-19 vaccination Wednesday, becoming one of the first teachers in B.C. to be inoculated against the deadly virus.

“(I feel) so good, so grateful. Something positive is happening! And I just feel really privileged to be able to have this happen and am super-positive about it,” said Coupar, who added she is also relieved to finally have protection against potential exposures at work. “The kids are awesome, they do their best. We’ve been doing our best and good teaching has been happening. (But) I’ve been worried every day.”

Coupar was one of several Surrey teachers and support staff who began to receive early vaccinations Wednesday at Fraser Health’s North Surrey immunization clinic near Central City Mall.

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On Tuesday, though, Surrey schools Supt. Jordan Tinney announced that Fraser Health would provide even earlier access to the vaccine to school-based staff in three areas of the city hardest hit by COVID-19: Panorama-Sullivan, City Centre and Newton-Fleetwood.

— Lori Culbert

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