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Physicians of Golden warn of third wave

Cases continue to climb provincially
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Cases continue to climb in B.C amid a third wave of COVID-19. (Omar Marques/AP photo)

The Physicians of Golden are calling the new provincial restrictions on indoor dining and the stay at home order “predictable” as they continue to plead proper COVID prevention methods to help flatten the curve of B.C.’s third wave.

Citing the rising trend in numbers dating back to early March, the Physicians have said the pandemic endline is in sight if we can get through one last hurdle together.

“Should they have done it sooner? Probably, in hindsight,” said Dr. Trina Larsen Soles, of the Physicians of Golden.

“It really does depend on whether people follow them or not, we’re getting this mixed response between people who pay attention and those who don’t, who were never going to abide by them anyways.”

Larsen Soles addressed the comment that Premier John Horgan made at the press conference, where he urged the 20-39 demographic age group not to “blow it” for the rest of the province.

With the current tiered phasing rollout of the vaccine, Larsen Soles says it’s predictable that infections would be rising with younger people, who are not vaccinated and often work in the type of jobs that are unable to be done from home.

“These are people who are doing everything they can and are feeling like they’re being accused of doing something that they didn’t,” said Larsen Soles.

She says it may also be easy to fall into a lull in Golden, where case counts have hovered around zero since mid-January according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

READ MORE: Two new cases of COVID-19 identified in Golden area

However, Larsen Soles says there have been cases in the community that are not reported in Golden’s numbers, from tourists to those who have a permanent address elsewhere.

The Physicians of Golden expect there are people who were positive who didn’t get tested as well.

Larson Soles emphasized we are not out of the woods yet, still in the danger zone for potentially losing another summer to travel restrictions and lockdowns.

“We’ve been doing well, because the people who have been exposed have done what they needed to do to prevent further spread, but especially with the variants, you need to get tested if you have any symptoms,” said Larsen Soles.

One of her main concerns is people coming to Golden to ski as other resorts shut down across the province, notably Whistler due to the P1 variant.

She said now is not the time to be playing jump-rope with boundaries and pushing the limit on what’s acceptable.

“When you don’t take precautions, you’re gambling, because you may not die, but you might leave the hospital with permanent lung damage and other long haul symptoms.”

Vaccination in Golden continues to plug along, with approximately 80 per cent of those eligible participating in the vaccination program.

Larsen Soles says that Golden was supplied with Moderna and Pfizer, but not AstraZeneca.



Claire Palmer

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