As new COVID cases tumble across North America, sleepy British Columbia has just reported a new outbreak of the virus at a nursing home in the province where both staff members and patients had already been vaccinated.
According to the CBC, a new outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at the Cottonwoods Care Center, located in the Interior Health region. BC’s provincial health officer first acknowledged the outbreak yesterday.
During a live news conference about the outbreak, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry emphasized being vaccinated doesn’t mean transmission will be stopped and that precautions must remain in place for seniors and care homes. Dr. Henry said two staff members and 10 residents have tested positive at the Cottonwoods facility, which is a long-term care home with 221 publicly-funded beds. Henry said that all staff and residents at the home were offered immunizations and that there was very high uptake of the vaccine. She said some of the cases were among people who had received two doses of the vaccine.
“You can have transmission even when people are fully vaccinated,” she said. “The illness seems to be milder and doesn’t transmit as much [and we] won’t see rapid explosive outbreaks.”
Despite the outbreak, Dr. Henry said the province will offer new guidance by the end of month that will allow for increased visitation at long-term care homes like this.- READ MORE
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