Burnaby residents may soon have more detail about where COVID-19 transmission is taking place in the region after one of B.C.’s top doctors admitted people need more information to make better decisions about their health.
Dr. Réka Gustafson, deputy provincial health officer, promised more “granular” information, where COVID-19 transmission is taking place, including in Fraser Health, where the majority of cases were identified this weekend.
Well it’s about freaking time.
Right now, the kind of data that is being sent out by our public health officials is just not good enough. Many Burnaby residents have told me that they want more detailed data on what is going on in the city. And I've seen many others say they want the same thing for their Metro Vancouver cities.
Just read this tweet by ace CBC reporter Justin McElroy, who sounds endlessly frustrated by the kind of data being handed out right now.
“The next time we'll have a press conference on #COVID19 in B.C. isn't until Thursday,” McElroy tweeted out on Monday after the record-shattering numbers were released. “We won't get new weekly numbers on regional numbers until then either. Numbers on a city-wide level will maybe come in two weeks? Also, we no longer receive the daily positive rate.”
In this press conference, deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson said they were working to provide detailed neighbourhood information "in as visually appealing way" as soon as possible.
— Justin McElroy (@j_mcelroy) November 2, 2020
Or maybe the government could just provide the data. Period.
Just a thought.
We need more detailed numbers and we need them issued quicker. We’re adults and we deserve to be treated as adults.
Monday was a grim day, as Gustafson said B.C.’s COVID-19 numbers are “concerning,” with another six deaths and 1,120 new cases confirmed over the weekend.Most of the new cases, 830, are in Fraser Health.
The way the provincial government seems to want to be like an unnamed hockey league and make it hard for interested citizens to study and present data is not going unnoticed by me https://t.co/IeBNO7SZ8I
— Patrick Johnston (@risingaction) November 3, 2020
Gustafson noted that the active caseload is now 2,945 patients, 90 of whom are in hospital, including 19 in intensive care.
The new case numbers confirmed for each of the last three days are record-breaking for the province, with 352 from Friday to Saturday, 389 from Saturday to Sunday and 379 from Sunday to Monday.
- With files from Diane Strandberg
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
