A coronavirus pandemic？ In beautiful BC？
Episode Stats
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Summary
As of Saturday, March 21st, the province of British Columbia has 424 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 10 deaths. Unfortunately, that makes BC the province with both the highest number of cases and the highest death toll, even though population-wise, we are not even the most populated province of Canada.
Transcript
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As of Saturday, March 21st, the province of British Columbia has 424 confirmed cases of
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COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, and 10 deaths. And of course, by the time you watch this video,
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those numbers will surely have risen. Unfortunately, that currently makes BC the
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province with both the highest number of cases and the highest number of deaths,
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even though population-wise, we are not even the most populated province of Canada. We are the third
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most populous. Most of the deaths were caused by a coronavirus outbreak at a care home in North
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Vancouver. This has made some people wonder, is BC taking the coronavirus seriously? Well, like other
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provinces, schools are shut down, most non-essential stores are closed, and the province has declared a
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state of emergency. But in the lower mainland of BC, we've been having really beautiful,
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sunny, and relatively warm weather. So if you look around at the local parks, there's no
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eerie emptiness that you might expect with a pandemic having been declared, but rather people
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are milling about, enjoying the sunshine, and spending time with their families. So if you
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weren't aware that there was a pandemic, you certainly wouldn't guess it by looking at these scenes.
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One British Columbian snapped a photo of the popular Kitsilano beach at sunset last week,
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it was full of people. And that was the same day that the mayor of Vancouver had publicly announced
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that people should either stay home or stay two meters apart when outside, so engaging in social
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distancing measures. And also last week, a photographer took a picture of a party happening
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on a frozen lake in Whistler. And the White Rock Pier has been teeming with people,
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which has prompted the mayor to say that he might close public access to the pier.
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And I am certainly witnessing the same kinds of trends with my own eyes. At a local park in
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Coquitlam the other day, there were people fishing, teenagers gathered in crowds, a volleyball game
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going on, but also folks hanging out in camping chairs that were obviously distanced from one another.
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So some people, they were well aware of the social distancing measures, and other people, not so much.
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But I think some people have been too quick to shame people for being outside because let's not forget
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that the public health recommendation right now from BC's provincial health officer Bonnie Henry
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is that people do continue hiking, biking, dog walking, and jogging, just not in large groups.
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So our top doctor does still recommend that we get outside, get exercise, and fresh air.
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On Saturday, a group of physicians at BC's Royal Columbian Hospital penned a letter to
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Dr. Bonnie Henry pushing for a lockdown and warning that BC is on the same trajectory as Italy, which
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now has surpassed a death toll of 4,000 people due to coronavirus. Gerald DeRosa, head of medicine at
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Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, says that all beaches and public parks either need to enforce
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social distancing or shut down completely. Obviously, this pandemic has been marked with an air of
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uncertainty and confusion, and there is no exception here for the residents of beautiful BC, where being
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outside and being active is part of our identity, it's in our blood. But our ability to access beaches and
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parks here in this province could change very quickly. Well, True North Nation, we're asking anyone who
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can to donate to their local food bank as we undergo this time of economic downturn. It's going to get
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really tough for a lot of people, so if you have the means to donate to a food bank, awesome. We at
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True North really appreciate it. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you in next week's video.