COVID-19 update for May 14: Here’s the latest on coronavirus in B.C.

Article content

Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for May 14, 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 May 13:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 137,810 (5,691 active cases)
• New cases since May 11: 587
• Total deaths: 1,632 (5 new deaths)
• Hospitalized cases: 413
• Intensive care: 141
• Total vaccinations: 2,335,513 doses administered; 113,691 second doses
• Recovered from acute infection: 130,300
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 5

Article content

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: Here’s how to get your vaccination shot in B.C.

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

• COVID-19: Five things to know about the P1 variant spreading in B.C.

• COVID-19: Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus in 2021

• 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. – Health officials are set to share latest figures on COVID-19 in B.C.

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

On Thursday, B.C. reported 587 new cases and five additional deaths from the virus.

6 a.m. – B.C.’s vaccination bookings timeline set to open to every eligible adult Sunday

Starting Sunday 7 p.m., every British Columbian adult aged 18 and older will start to get notifications to book their COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

Currently, all British Columbian adults can register on the province’s Get Vaccinated system, while booking invitations are being sent to those 30 and older.

Article content

The age eligibility for booking will expand on Friday 7 p.m. to anyone 25 and older, and again on Saturday 7 p.m. to anyone age 20 and older. On Sunday evening, the eligibility expands to cover all eligible adults.

Earlier this week, B.C. hit a milestone in its vaccination program, with more than half of all eligible adults receiving at least one dose. Just 2.8 per cent of the eligible population have had the necessary second dose. More than 2.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered so far.

The province is expected to announce details on plans to vaccinate youth age 12 to 17 next week.

6 a.m. – Calls mount to cancel Tokyo Olympics

An online petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Tokyo Games to be canceled was submitted Friday to local organizers, the International Olympic Committee and others.

The Olympics are scheduled to open in just 10 weeks on July 23 in the midst of a pandemic with Tokyo and other areas under a state of emergency. Cases continue to rise in Japan, where less than 2% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

The petition campaign – called “Stop Tokyo Olympics” – was drafted by well-known lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, who has also run for governor of Tokyo.

Utsunomiya said the Olympics would divert medical services from the general public, which has been a rising concern as hospitals come under strains that could get worse as the games approach.

Organizers and the IOC say they will hold the games safely, isolating 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes in a “bubble” and repeatedly testing them and the tens of thousands of others – judges, staff, sponsors, media and broadcasters – who will enter a country that has had its borders sealed for a year.

Article content

There in no indication the Olympics will be canceled with billions of dollars riding on it, although there has been opposition from the local medical community. Last month, the British Medical Journal suggested the games be “reconsidered.”

The IOC relies on selling broadcast rights for almost 75% of its income – 18% more is from sponsors – and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to organize the Olympics. A government audit has suggested the number might be twice that large.

— Associated Press

6 a.m. – In the U.S., fully vaccinated can drop the masks, skip social distancing

In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

“Today is a great day for America,” President Joe Biden said Thursday during a Rose Garden address heralding the new guidance, an event where he and his staff went without masks.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask,” he said, summarizing the new guidance and encouraging more Americans to roll up their sleeves. “Get vaccinated – or wear a mask until you do.”

The guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but it will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools and other venues – even removing the need for social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.

Article content

The CDC and the Biden administration have faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people – those who are two weeks past their last required COVID-19 vaccine dose – in part to highlight the benefits of getting the shots. The country’s aggressive vaccination campaign has paid off: U.S. virus cases are at their lowest rate since September, deaths are at their lowest point since last April and the test positivity rate is at the lowest point since the pandemic began.

Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said the long-awaited change is thanks to the millions of people who have gotten vaccinated and is based on the latest science about how well those shots are working.

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities – large or small – without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” Walensky said. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”

— Associated Press

4:30 a.m. – Greyhound permanently ends routes in Canada

Greyhound has permanently closed its services in Canada after nearly a century, the inter-city bus operator said on Thursday, as the COVID-19 pandemic dented demand for public transport.

The move is a blow to Canada’s rural communities, which have relied on buses to connect them to larger towns. The company ended all services in western Canada in 2018 due to falling ridership in rural areas and increased competition.

Article content

“A full year without revenue has unfortunately made it impossible to continue operations,” Stuart Kendrick, senior vice president of the firm, which is owned by British transport operator FirstGroup, said in a statement.

Greyhound, which started operations in Canada in 1929, said the federal and provincial governments had not extended needed investment in inter-city bus services. “Operations are not feasible absent of financial support,” the statement added.

Omar Alghabra, the federal transport minister, said he was disappointed by Greyhound Canada’s closure.

— Reuters

12 a.m. – B.C. man, 41, shares story of AstraZeneca-induced blood clot

A B.C. man says surgeons removed more than six feet of his small intestine due to a massive blood clot caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In a Facebook post, Shaun Mulldoon, 41, said he first felt stomach pains 10 days after his shot and was hospitalized for vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) one week later.

“Seventeen days after my vaccine, (I) ended up going into emergency surgery to remove over six feet of my small intestine. I had a massive blood clot,” said Mulldoon, who lives in the Fraser Health region.

He had a second surgery two days after his first where doctors removed even more of his small intestine.

“I really wish they had let us know what ‘worst-case scenario’ might look like,” Mulldoon said.

It’s B.C.’s second case of VITT this month. A woman in her 40s is recovering after being hospitalized for a clot last week in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Article content

— Scott Brown

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