'We've never had a pandemic in recorded history that has not had a second wave'

[tacobell fan]

British Columbia's top doctor says that a second wave of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus is inevitable in Canada, but that the lessons learned over the past few months will help inform future responses.

"The optimist in me would like to think that maybe it will go away, and the virus will mutate and won't become worse," said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry in an interview with Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio's The Current.

"But you know what? We've never had a pandemic in recorded history that has not had a second wave."

Henry, who was on the front lines of the country's SARS outbreak from 2002 to 2003, has led B.C.'s response to the coronavirus outbreak. She has been praised for her response to the pandemic that successfully flattened the curve ahead of many other regions.

B.C. was the second province with a confirmed case of COVID-19, and with strict physical distancing measures, new infections and hospitalizations have steadily decreased.

On Tuesday, the province entered the second phase of its pandemic response with many businesses and public spaces, including restaurants and beaches reopening with restrictions.

"Now is our time to regroup, learn as much as we can over the coming weeks and months, and prepare," Henry said.

Testing, contact tracing crucial

As the country slowly reopens, Henry said that testing will continue to be crucial, particularly when the flu returns in the fall.

"We need to be able to understand the difference between influenza and COVID, and we'll need to have testing in place to rapidly expand our testing if needed," she said, adding that contact tracing for diagnosed cases will also play a role.

However, Henry pushed back at the idea of COVID-19 surveillance systems, such as those launched in China and Hong Kong, arguing they're "probably not that helpful."

"That one-on-one public health investigation is incredibly important, so if there [are] some applications that help us do that more efficiently, then that's what we're looking for."

With the potential for a second wave, Henry said B.C. is already considering what measures may return — without delivering another blow to the economy.

"What I hope we can do is create a level of safety so that we can get our economy going, our schools going, work going — but not to the level that we were in December [before the virus]," she said.

"We'll be looking at what were the measures that worked best to prevent transmission, and if we start to see increases in COVID, those are the things that we can put in place rather than the blanket shut everything down as we did before."

B.C. schools to reopen in June

The most effective measures will be tested as the provincial economy reopens, and starting on June 1, students can voluntarily return to classrooms.

"We want to make sure that there's not a long period of time where [students] don't have that direct contact, but we need to do it in a way that's safe," Henry said.

While schools have remained open throughout the pandemic for some students, including children of essential workers, they will now be open to all.

[karthik25]

True.

[veeraveeraleaks]

Isnt this hoax? Just incase, I will inject bleach into my lungs and also get UV light exposed.

 Finally I take hydroxychloroquin pills everyday. 

[tacobell fan]

14 minutes ago, veeraveeraleaks said:

Isnt this hoax? Just incase, I will inject bleach into my lungs and also get UV light exposed.

 Finally I take hydroxychloroquin pills everyday. 

@Roger_that