covid-19 public exposures in bc, covid-19 public exposures in bc

British Columbia was successful in “flattening the curve” during the early stages of the pandemic; however, in recent weeks, the province has seen a sharp increase in positive COVID-19 cases fuelled primarily by large gatherings of young people in their 20s and 30s. “Active cases in BC continue to rise and have more than doubled since the end of July, hitting 629 on Friday, while thousands of people are in isolation after coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19,” reports News1130.

On a positive note, numerous new studies suggest that immunity from the virus—even in those who experienced only mind symptoms—seems to endure longer than first thought. “The response looks perfectly durable,” said Dr. Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona, in this report by the New York Times.

The country as a whole is experiencing an uptick in cases, triggering fears of a second wave of lockdowns as we approach the fall and beginning of the school year. Access to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is also expected to end in October, with many people still out of work and independent businesses trying to recover from the initial shut down. Despite Canada’s relative success in dealing with the pandemic so far, the recent rise in cases demonstrates the tenuous nature of progress as more people travel, cross regional borders, and flout physical distancing and crowd capacity recommendations made by public health officials.