As B.C. prepares to relax some of its COVID-19 restrictions on business and small personal gatherings, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is warning people not to exceed 50 people for a summer wedding.
Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix took questions at a video town hall hosted by Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick in the evening of May 11. One of the questions from a constituent was about having a wedding in a restaurant that has approval for up to 75 people under B.C.sa国际传媒檚 soon-to-expand business restrictions.
Henry was emphatic that while a restaurant may be able to manage independent small groups at widely spaced tables, a single wedding party is not the same thing and carries much greater risk of virus transmission.
sa国际传媒淵ou know, I cansa国际传媒檛 see a wedding where people keep their distance,sa国际传媒� Henry said. sa国际传媒淚f yousa国际传媒檙e going to have a wedding, it definitely has to be under 50. If itsa国际传媒檚 outdoors you can space people apart, thatsa国际传媒檚 good, but we donsa国际传媒檛 want buffets, because we know those are places where you can also contract the virus.sa国际传媒�
Older guests and those with health conditions that increase their risk should participate by video link, she added.
(Link to Youtube , Henry discusses weddings at 50-minute mark. Other B.C. Restart Plan video town halls are in the works, and will be when they are scheduled.)
Letnick also passed on a question about COVID-19 risk to children, disclosing that he has already expanded his personal sa国际传媒渂ubblesa国际传媒� to include his grandchildren. Henry noted that her guidance is to wait until after the Victoria Day long weekend to begin that and other sa国际传媒減hase twosa国际传媒� changes to pandemic restrictions.
sa国际传媒淕uilty as charged,sa国际传媒� Letnick said.
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The constituentsa国际传媒檚 question related to reports from New York and the U.K. that children have developed illness. Henry said not all of those cases have been children testing positive for COVID-19, it tends to be older children and there are other viruses that can be involved.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a lot we still donsa国际传媒檛 know,sa国际传媒� Henry said. sa国际传媒淚t has come to light very recently that some children may contract an inflammatory condition thatsa国际传媒檚 very similar to something wesa国际传媒檝e known about for a long time, called Kawasaki disease. And itsa国际传媒檚 not clear yet if itsa国际传媒檚 related to COVID-19 or not, but it could be. It is a condition that wesa国际传媒檝e seen that causes inflammation of the blood vessels, it can cause red eyes, conjunctivitis [pink eye], a skin rash, sometimes swelling of the tongue, and some children can get quite sick with it.sa国际传媒�
With more children returning to classroom education after the long weekend, to work out routines for full school operation in the fall, the question of wearing non-medical masks also came up at the town hall.
Henry said masks are good for short trips to a store, to protect other people from your droplets, they are not effective protection to be worn all day at school or elsewhere.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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