The advice is simple: stick to the people in your home.
While the official rule is to "stick to your six," Health Minister Adrian Dix said in today's provincial COVID-19 briefing that it's a good idea to limit the number of people in your dwelling to those that live there.
With the number of new cases soaring to over 1,000 Halloween weekend, Dix says it's imperative British Columbians do everything possible to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
"I want to note, obviously, that 1,120 cases are a lot of cases over three days. This is a significant challenge, particularly in Metro Vancouver," said Dix.
With respect to the Granville Street strip, Dix notes that some of the behaviour was "simply disgraceful."
Social media posts showed downtown streets crowded with party-goers on Halloween night, apparently flouting COVID-19 safety protocols.
Dix added that it is of particular importance for people to monitor the number of people they have in private residences. He underscored that several cases have occurred from small gatherings when there are no cameras around.
"The COVID-19 tide is rising--you can see that in the numbers. It is powerful, but we can be stronger and we will be stronger," said Dix. "We've shown we know what to do, we've proven that we know how to do it, and we need to do that together right now."
Last week, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry issued a new public health order limiting the number of people at gatherings to six.
"What we are asking people to do, especially in the season of gatherings--the season where it is colder and the days are shorter-- is to strictly limit that," said Dix. "And that's why the maximum of six is in the public order and that's why our advice to people is to avoid such gathering and stick to within the home, to people who live in the home.
"It's one way we can stop the spread of COVID-19."
A Note on COVID-19 in Transit
When asked whether there have been any cases of COVID-19 transmission on B.C. transit, Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson said that health officials have "a very good indication that it's not a major source of transmission."
She added that the vast majority of people in British Columbia are able to identify the source of transmission and that most people do not know who they were in transit with. If there were more cases from transit, she notes that there would be a greater number of people who were unable to identify the source of transmission in contact tracing.
"If you add up the summary of evidence it does not occur in casual contact and places where there is safety protocol in place," she said.
Today, health officials announced 1,120 new cases of COVID-19 over a three-day period, bringing the total number of cases in B.C. to 15,501 cases.
--With a file from the Canadian Press.
