 Thank you very much. Good afternoon. My name is Adrian Dix, I'm BC's minister of health. To my right is Dr Bonnie Henry, BC's provincial health officer. We're providing today an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia in particular. With respect to interior health, as all of you know, there has been a significant growth in cases in interior health. It's been focused firstly and primarily in the central Okanagan region. In July we first introduced new measures to slow the transmission of COVID-19 in the central Okanagan local health area. That was followed on August 6th, I believe, when we announced further steps to address the significant increase in test positive cases of COVID-19 in the central Okanagan in particular. So I wanted to introduce and I'll be coming back in a moment. Thank you. Thank you. I'll introduce Dr Bonnie Henry to talk about further steps we're going to take in interior health to address the high number of COVID-19 positive cases there. Dr Henry. Thank you and good afternoon. I'd like to begin today by acknowledging everyone throughout the central Okanagan and the Interior Health Authority who has stepped up over the last two weeks in particular and received their vaccines. It is the important thing that will get us through both this increase and this pandemic. And thank you for taking the time to do this important small measure to protect yourself and everyone in your community. As Minister Dix mentioned two weeks ago, we announced new local orders from the Chief Medical Officer of Health in Interior Health for the central Okanagan region as we were witnessing a growing number of cases primarily and among those who were not yet vaccinated and the cases were affecting both long-term care and health services particularly hospital services in the central Okanagan. And while these measures were aimed at slowing transmission, we worked to increase vaccination rates in the area and have continued to see a steady rate of increase in people receiving both the first and the second doses of vaccine. Unfortunately, we've also been seeing a steady rate of increase throughout the entire Interior Health Authority. Again, in people primarily who are not yet vaccinated. This has been a particular challenge as we are dealing with displacement of people across the interior health region due to the ongoing wildfire situation. And it has strained health resources in a number of communities across the Interior Health particularly Nelson but also places like Vernon and Kamloops and Carameas and into the Thompson Care Busu swap areas as well. So when we discussed what we needed to do to try and address some of the challenges that are being faced and the pressures now on local health services, we realized that we really needed to take an approach, a regional approach that accounted for the fact that people are being displaced and are moving across and within the interior region. And that is one of the driving challenges in these cases. So as of today, there will be new chief medical health officer orders in Interior Health and this will include the regional extension of several of the restrictions that will now apply to the whole of the Interior Health region. These restrictions include effective midnight tonight that masks will be mandatory in all indoor public spaces for people 12 years of age and older. And the outdoor gatherings will be limited to one other host holder, five guests as we did with the central Okanagan. Outdoor personal gatherings like birthday parties and backyard barbecues will be limited to no more than 50 people. And indoor organized gatherings again will be limited to no more than 50 people. As well, the indoor and outdoor gatherings will need to have a COVID safety plan in place to make sure that the indoor group will be able to again protect people and minimize transmission that is being spread across communities. As well, the high-intensity indoor fitness classes will be suspended and outdoor group classes are indoor group classes, not high-intensity will be limited to a maximum of 10 people. And outdoor group exercises up to 50 people per class. As we've talked about in the last few weeks, there are many different issues that are affecting communities across interior health. Not the least of which is COVID-19 but also the displacement of communities and the volatility of the wildfire season. We are strongly recommending again that people avoid non-essential travel to and from the interior health region regardless of their immunization status. We understand this news will be very important to many in this area who are not only living with the challenges of the pandemic but also with the challenges of wildfires and heat and smoke. These steps will allow us to contain transmission and I think the positive news is we have seen a leveling off of the transmission in the central Okanagan where these measures have been in place. But also all important is as we boost our immunization rates across the interior, we know that it is those pockets of lower immunization, particularly people who have not yet received their first dose that allows this virus and the variant that we are seeing, the Delta variant which is that much more transmissible to spread so much more easily. Now more than ever, it is critical for people to roll up their sleeves and get your vaccine. The way that we protect those who cannot yet be immunized like children under the age of 12, the way we protect those people whose immune systems don't respond as well to vaccines is by all of us being protected. That is how we stop this transmission so that businesses can continue to operate, so that we can continue to have those much needed gatherings with our families, with our friends in a way that is safe. Vaccines have changed the way we can now respond to outbreaks like what we are seeing in many communities now and into our health and in other parts of the province where rates are also increasing. Thanks to vaccines, we have the tools we need to get back safely to those things that we love. If you are living in a community in the Interior Health Authority, the best thing you can do to get us through these restrictions is to get vaccinated today and encourage others in your life to do the same. Thank you. I will turn it back to Minister Dix. Minister Dix, our thoughts are with people in Interior Health who are dealing with these issues. The issue of wildfires is something that has profoundly affected everyone in Interior Health. I want to acknowledge the extraordinary work done by health care workers, by communities, by ambulance paramedics, by WestJet employees, by others in the relocation of many people in long-term care in Interior Health in the last week to the lower mainland because of the impending and potential threat of wildfires, people from Merritt and from West Kelowna and from Armstrong in the last two weeks and 100-mile house and other communities have been profoundly affected by this and the movement of people there and the effort made by health care workers, the sacrifice and the effort made by residents themselves for what is significant travel. The efforts made by health care workers in the lower mainland who have brought people in long-term care in Interior Health, many of them here in the lower mainland and are now living in long-term care facilities in Metro Vancouver is an extraordinary achievement but it also reflects the challenge chasing everybody in communities in the Interior Health Authority. We are 100% in support of our health care community that has done this work. Secondly, clearly, these changes reflect the approach we have taken with vaccination to focus in on areas of transmission in the province and take measures where appropriate. This began in the central Okanagan and is now put into larger effect across Interior Health and the intent of these measures is to get us back to a more stable and normal state with respect to transmission as soon as we possibly can and to support communities in Interior Health under those circumstances and I want to acknowledge that it is obviously when measures are put in place in a community a challenging thing and we appreciate the support of municipalities and communities for these efforts. And very much. On a couple of other short matters we will be updating the appropriate ministers and ministers of education, advanced education and provincial health and others next week about issues around updated guidelines for school reopenings that will occur next week. We look forward to answering all of the questions from members of the media but those issues will be addressed in detail in the early part of next week. So we will have a series of updates on those issues next week and we will have a series of questions and finally many of you have been asking for more detailed information about transmission with respect to vaccinated and unvaccinated people information that is available weekly at the moment and starting on Monday we will be providing regular updates in our regular written bridgings about COVID-19 including this information about who is being infected with COVID-19 and their vaccination status. With that I will turn it back to Dr. Henry for questioning on the territory of the Muslims who slave with deux together and say how appreciative we are to be here on their lands. Thank you, as a reminder to reporters on the phone more press star one to enter the queue you will be limited to one question and one follow-up today. Please also remember to take your phone off mute. Your name is called. Our first question today comes from And you said that you have seen a steady rate of increase in the take up of first and second doses in, I assume it is the central open oven here speaking about, can you put some numbers to that like a comparison before your order of two weeks ago and now and also can you say why those numbers are rising? I don't actually, the minister probably has the exact numbers in front of him. So I will turn it over to him. We are seeing it not only in the central Okanagan and I think people are realizing this. We talked about a lot in the past. There are many reasons why people have not yet been immunized. A very small number of people are against vaccine but the majority of people it has to do with having their questions answered, making it easy for them to get immunized. And I know last night we had a pop-up clinic at the BC Lions game and we had about 100 people, about half of them were dose one. So it is bringing it to people and making it convenient and easy for them and they have been doing that across the central Okanagan and across the interior where our challenges have been in the interior. I don't need to say this has been the trying to get people immunized at the same time as they are dealing with potential evacuations, evacuation alerts and that affected so many communities. And we have seen that when people are evacuated or taking precautions and moving to another area, staying with friends and family or staying in group accommodations that we have seen transmission of the virus. So interior health has been trying to get it out everywhere they can and there are many different strategies across the lower mainland to do the same thing. So we have been seeing increases across the board. Do you have some numbers? Thank you, Lisa. First of all, I would say that today 83% of British Clemens have received their first dose immunization over 12. I have received their first dose immunization against COVID-19, which shows a continuing increase in first dose immunization, which we see obviously as very positive. I would say that our second dose immunization is 74.3% today. And the number of people who have received the first dose immunization today, and that number of course is declining as the number of second doses exceeds the number of first doses. Those numbers come together. We are down to under 9% of people who have only now received one dose of COVID-19, which is obviously a good sign. We have also seen significant progress in the interior health region. Not as fast as we would like, because we would like it more. What is better than 83, it is 84. But in interior health, the numbers of people who have received the first dose immunization are 76.8% and the second dose is 68%. We want to see those numbers grow in particular areas such as downtown Kelowna, which has seen a significant increase in, which saw a very large number of cases of COVID-19 is now up to 80.5%. So getting closer and consistently closer to the provincial average. But we would like to obviously see those numbers continue to go up. We want to see people of the importance of this for them and their lives. It's about keeping themselves and their families safe. It's about allowing everybody to be able to do the activities everyone wants to do. It's about keeping your community safe. COVID-19 is a vicious and nasty virus. And this is something we can do together to address the pandemic. Overwhelmingly, and I think the record of immunization in BC is amongst the best in the world, that said, we can do a lot more of our issues in parts of interior health. We see, for example, a very high level of transmission in the Nelson and Creston area of interior health. And we've seen that in a number of days. I think in the Nelson local health area there were between 110, 120 cases of COVID-19 in the last reporting week. You saw that when you saw the numbers. And while the numbers in Nelson and Creston have gone up, currently the immunization is 72%, and in Creston is 65.4%, it simply has to be higher. And there's one final factor I would say. If you look at the numbers, and I've seen this before, if you look at the numbers across BC, you'll see that over 60, the numbers are pretty consistent across health stories, whether you're in the northern health authority, the interior health authority, the lower mainland health authorities of Vancouver Island, where there is significant difference is under 50. And we have to continue to make an effort to make sure that everyone that everyone needs to understand I think can be seen, and this is an important consideration, that you will not, if people do, can choose not to be vaccinated. But there will be significant things you will not be able to do if you're not vaccinated. And it's time, I think, for people to get vaccinated. And there are opportunities across BC to get that done. You can walk up to any vaccination clinic in BC and get your first dose immunization today. I'm happy to say that more than 4,000 people did that yesterday. And we've had that continued moving up of the first dose numbers, but we need to really now, at this point in the process, when we see the effect on unvaccinated populations of COVID-19 and its effect more broadly in the community, this is the time to get vaccinated. I encourage everybody to do that. I'm happy to be able to provide you today with community health service area data on vaccinations and interior health if that's what you like community health service area by community health service area. Do you have a follow-up? Thank you for that. I have to give you Dr. Henry to speak about the vaccination rate among First Nations communities, which are also lagging behind the provincial rate. And some may think that's a bit of a struggle of community vaccination clinics that occurred when the rollout began. Can you talk about what's being done to try to increase the vaccination rate of First Nations communities? Whether that's a concern? Absolutely. It is something we've been working on, as you know, from the very beginning. We have prioritized First Nations communities and Indigenous people to receive vaccination, recognizing the differential impact that this virus has had on Indigenous peoples. And yes, we're working really closely with the First Nations health authority. And again, it varies. There are many communities where the all-of-community approach has meant that over 100% of people in the community have been immunized. And there are quite a few of those, particularly in the lower mainland and in parts of the interior and the north. But there are other communities where there are significant issues around vaccine, some issues around access, and there are some issues around the vaccines that we're providing, wanting, for example, the whole community to receive the same vaccine if the parents received Moderna and waiting for it to be available and approved for use in younger people in that community as well. So we're working really closely with the First Nations health authority to address the specific issues because it is unique in each country, and it is the main issues that we're seeing, and it is something both in the interior health and northern health, and we've been partnering with community leaders. I think across the board, as we were talking about, the rates are very high for seniors and elders. And the importance of protecting elders and communities. And now the message really is about for younger people in First Nations communities that we're working with as well. As a global, Richard, please go ahead. I have a question about the BC Lions game yesterday. There were some issues when people were leaving the stadium yesterday in terms of congestion. Are you concerned about big events and people gathering in very close proximity where things like exits and entries are not properly controlled? And can you also explain to people why you were not wearing a mask at the game yesterday? And are you concerned at all about the impression that may have sent to the public? So good questions. I can say that my experience there that I did absolutely, as most people did there, wear a mask on the outsides when we were going into the place and coming back and forth. Yes, I was with a small group of people in a limited area. All of us were vaccinated. And so there was no need for us to wear a mask in that large open area. And I also think they did a really good job of, as you know, there are limits of numbers of people that can be in the facility. And they had a computer model that made it so that people were spread out and took advantage of the space that was in the BC Place stadium. So I think overall it was a really positive experience and it was really great to see people together again. I know most of the people there were vaccinated. We had a clinic as I mentioned ahead of time and some people who had not yet received their vaccines stepped up. So that's good. I know there were some issues with congestion on leaving and I understand that they will be addressing those to make sure that it's less congested. But again, these are larger open spaces where the risk of people moving around with people. But yes, those things need to be addressed. These are the first events that we've had. I think it is important as over 80% of people are immunized in BC that we get back to doing some of these important things in our life, not just sports but arts as well in theater. And we need to make sure that we have measures in place that make it as safe as possible for the people who are immunized. And we need to make sure that we have measures that can make that safer for people who are immunized. Richard, do you have a follow-up? I was just wondering about we see cases going up in other areas, sprays or coastal health cases are going up. What would it take for measures like we've seen put in place in interior health to be applied to those health authorities? And do you think what we're seeing is that we need to extend the closure of the border? Do you think that was the right decision by the Americans to keep that land border between US and Canada closed until September 21st? Yes. So we meet with my public health teams daily. And these are the questions that we address. We look at the situation so it's not just the absolute numbers and the numbers per 100,000. We look at the situation and qualitatively where transmissions are happening. As you know, we put in restrictions in the lower mainland around certain workplaces and other things when those were the settings where we're seeing a lot of transmission happening. In the lower mainland in particular, we do have very high rates of immunization and in many of the high risk settings, but we're watching those really carefully. We're looking at the local situation where we could see specific events that spread to other areas where certain businesses, where a number of staff were affected. So it really is looking at the local situation in the context that we now have where there is high rates of immunization across most areas. And it's those pockets where a community or a neighborhood or a workplace has low rates of immunization that we see the risk. And so we're able to manage this now based on what we're seeing, where we're seeing transmission happening. And the unfortunate thing is in the interior, there are many communities where immunization rates are not yet at that level where we have that broader protection that's needed. And it started to impact things like our health services. And of course it's compounded in the interior by the other emergencies that we're dealing with. I'm obviously disappointed again. I think there are provisions that could be made around immunized people, fully immunized people, being able to more freely move across the border. But obviously I have no influence on those decisions. We work very closely with the government of Canada around those issues. And I don't think it is the rates that we're seeing here in BC that have made any difference. I think it is a broad approach that the government is trying to make. I think the other thing that we will see is these approaches are going to evolve over time, not just in the U.S. but other countries as well as the data around the effectiveness of the vaccine programs that we have in Canada and in other countries. I'm particularly talking about people who have concerns about having received mixed and matched doses of vaccines. I will just say that these are ongoing measures that we are able to travel with regardless of what vaccine combination they have received here in Canada. Our next question is from Nick Johansson with Castanet. Nick, please go ahead. Hi, Dr. Henry, on the interior health public exposures page, there is currently no active public exposures that is listed there or any workplace closures as a result of COVID. As contract tracing been overwhelmed in the area here, and if not, how can it be that there are no public exposures listed one-for-week we have had record breaking daily case counts here? Yes, so public exposures are listed when we can't, when there have been exposures that people can't be identified. So, yes, contact tracing is ongoing, but it has been scaled back because of the resources. And how it has been scaled back is we are targeting more direct contact tracing for people who are in higher risk environments, so people who work in childcare, who are in healthcare, so those cases will have more stringent contact tracing with follow-up on a daily basis, whereas others in lower risk environments, they will be notified and given information about what to do, but may not have the daily follow-up that we do in other settings. So, yes, what that reflects is that we are not seeing the clusters and outbreaks in public settings or in workplaces. And really, that's what we are seeing across the board now. There were a number of them, and as you know, a number of restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, fitness centers, and others, other settings had to be closed periodically, or they were able to remain open, but only with immunized staff working. And those are some of the things that Interior Health is working with specific communities on and specific businesses on. But what we are seeing is transmission in private settings. We are not having that wedding, certainly some funerals, but those organized gatherings that are private settings where we are seeing transmission with unvaccinated people, and some of it spread to people who are vaccinated. And I do know that our Chief Medical Health Officer from the person who is acting in that role right now, covering for Dr. Pollock is on the line, and I don't know, Dr. Parker, if you wanted to address some of the areas that we are seeing, I think that's a good question. Thanks, Bonnie, yes, Dr. Rob Parker. In Kelowna, that's the reason I'm spending the order for masking and for the gatherings across IH, is we are seeing that rise across IH, almost a vast majority in unvaccinated people in the age group 20 to 59. And that's coming under control in Central Okanagan. But it's starting to put people in the age group in the age group 20 to 59. And it's starting to put pressure on our acute care beds and other facilities and other areas of IH. Sorry, Nick, do you have a follow-up? Yeah, just to touch on, I believe Dr. Henry mentioned this in her opener remarks about cases leveling off in the Central Okanagan like you just touched on. Could you provide some more details on that, maybe some figures about how much of a leveling off we're seeing and how recently we've started to see that? Maybe I'll turn again to Dr. Parker to give you some details. It really has, as we were seeing, a trajectory that was steady increase, we've seen the same numbers of cases, it's leveled off at a much too high level, but around 100 to 150 cases a day in the Central Okanagan specifically. And you probably have more updated numbers, Rob. Yeah, I've been watching them over the last week. And as far as I think they're going to be in the last week, and as far as I can see, I think we've probably hit our peak Saturday Sunday, and then during this week they've been dropping down, it was a peak amount of above 350, and it's been down to the 200s or just above, just below that figure for the last week, but the overall IH numbers are staying a bit high because of the increase of case numbers that are occurring, transmission that's occurring in East Virginia, Kooti Boundary, North and South Okanagan, and in Thompson Care Food Fund. Our next question is from Binder Sajan, CTV. Binder, please go ahead. Thank you. And Dr. Henry, I just wanted to go back to the BC Lions. I think the concerns that we've been hearing wasn't so much about being in a box without a mask, but people taking selfies with you, unclear if they were vaccinated, they were vaccinated, some of them not wearing masks, even though BC Plays does recommend them. You've also previously made comments about if you're around a large number of people indoors, and I realize the roof may be open, but there should be masks wearing presents. So are you worried about the message that sends or the optics of this because there are a lot of people saying they're confused about what they should be doing in these situations. And so there was, we were keeping physical distancing with a selfie thing was a bit disconcerting, to be honest, but they were a distance from me. There was no close contact. And yes, I did ask people if they were vaccinated, and every single one of the people who came up and were involved there were vaccinated. So these are lower risk settings, and we need to be aware of the risk. It's an outdoor environment. It was a short period of time. There was physical distancing being kept. So those are the types of settings where transmission is unlikely, particularly with fully vaccinated people. But yes, I still wear a mask when I'm on public transit. If I go to the grocery store, if I'm in a crowded indoor space, and certainly I did wear it outside of the small number of people that we were there, I'm sure that's something that I'm looking forward to. Do you have a follow-up? I do. I have a question for one of my colleagues. So health authorities around the province are asking their staff who are already exhausted and overworked, as you know, to go to interior health, to help in hospitals, big and small that are struggling with this, so what's your plan to deal with even more patients in the future now about how dire the situation is there? I think this is a question for Minister Dix, and I'm not sure I would call the situation dire. People are exhausted, and this is a preemptive measure, and it is important for all of us to recognize that we can control the things that we are doing that are transmitting this virus, and one of the most important ones is to be immunized. And it is important for all of us to be immunized through EMBC, and it's related principally to wildfires. The wildfire situation is what it is. It's an extremely serious situation in parts of the interior health region, parts of the interior of BC. And so what we've seen, just to be clear, in the last week or so, is a very significant relocation of those in long-term care. And so we have a different threshold for people to leave communities. So about 100 people left long-term care in Merritt, and ultimately, after many of them, what was a very challenging and difficult trip for both the people assisting them and themselves, are now relocated to Metro Vancouver equally. As a result of the West Colonial situation, there was significant relocation of those in the long-term care. And so it was similar relocations both to Kelowna and to Metro Vancouver, in 100-mile, similar, in Armstrong, similar. And these moments require support. So it's something that we do on a regular basis, which is to seek people to support in regions. In general, what we're seeing is in hospitalization. You'll see the numbers today. They're about a third, I think, a little over, a little below a third of where they were, around a third of where they were, or third to a quarter anyway, of where they were in terms of the height of the third wave of the pandemic in terms of acute care. And significantly below, I think the number of people in critical care today is 59. It was 183 at this height in critical care in the month of April. What we're seeing in some hospitals is real pressure, I mean, in the hospital, which is the center of a lot of these challenges in the central Hogan-Agan region, obviously, is facing some significant challenges. And that's why we took steps to delay some non-urgent scheduled surgeries there. Equally in a hospital such as Kootenai Boundary Regional Hospital, where the ICU in absolute terms is not that big. You may have heard from a doctor there this week. But in the case, there's a significant event, an accident, or others. So you want to keep space available. And when you have, I believe, for COVID-positive patients, as there is in the ICU in Kootenai Boundary Regional Hospital, that causes an impact. So the fact that the wildfires and COVID-19 put pressure on is not, is clear. If you look across the province, there is, at a provincial level, significant space where not really using our surge capacity of critical care beds at all right now. For example, I think two beds out of the hundreds that have been made available. And that the overall, I think, level capacity is about 77, 78% in critical care. But that said, COVID-19 wildfires, significant demands on health care after all 18 months of this. And the pressure, the ongoing pressure on our health workers and the relocations and long-term care, all of those put pressure on our staff and interior health. Emergency management BC prepares us with the health authorities. We do this on a regular basis, including asking people about their willingness to support other communities. And that's something that will continue to happen. So yes, all of these are a major challenge. And our extraordinary health care teams are dealing with it, and we will continue to do so. And we will continue to do so. And again, acknowledge the remarkable work they're doing. Our next question comes from Michelle. Go ahead. Go ahead. Hi there. And if we could get answers to both our questions in French as well. Doctor Henry, you mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the hospitalization rate has now been uncoupled from the daily case number. Does the evidence show that there is still a serious threat to our health system? Are those two numbers still decoupled? So lots of different parts to that. And the strains that we're seeing in the health care system, in the interior, as just mentioned, are more than just COVID. But COVID is part of it. There are other things. And we're seeing that in our hospital system across the board. And we're seeing that in the area of occupancy now similar to what we saw prior to the pandemic because of people needing ICU care for non-COVID related illnesses. So there are stresses on our health care system. For the most part, though, we are not seeing that dramatic increase in hospitalization because of the protection and mostly older people who are immunized and they're the ones who are more at risk of hospitalization. But the data that we've shown, we've put it up weekly around the risk in those who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated. And we know that the risk of hospitalization is 10 times less if you're vaccinated versus unvaccinated. So the fact that 80% of the population is protected means that we don't expect to see as dramatic a surge. I know that there are some of the models out there that are predicting that it will be a huge increase in hospitalization. But the reason that we're seeing this is, of course, why we're taking some of the actions that we're taking, particularly the interior, to take some of the pressure off of facilities that are being stretched for a variety of reasons. And it is something we'll continue to watch. We are learning all the time and we need to make adjustments about our programs, about what we're doing, about the risk of hospitalization. But it's not where we want it to be. And that is, of course, much, much less than what it is right now. Yes, indeed. First of all, the level of vaccination, among the elderly people, is much higher than the general population. For example, in more than 65 years, there is a total vaccination of 95% which is extraordinary. So the vast majority of cases are represented in the age of 20 at the age of 49. So the majority of cases are represented in the age of 20 at the age of 49 and in the age of 15. The fact is less serious than if it was mainly in a older population. So it's important to recognize that. So there is a difference in the total hospitalization right now and the total hospitalization before the vaccination program. So it's important to recognize that. It's important to recognize that the vaccination program is evident. It's mostly evident in our care homes in the long-term or of course there is a small percentage of what we have seen in the month of December, the month of November of the effect on residents and people who live in our care homes in the long-term. So I think there is a difference in the total hospitalization. So we have seen a slight difference. We have seen a slight difference. We have seen a slight difference. And I recognize that the reduction of people who are hospitalized and what we have seen I think the results of these people are better than a few. I think that we will need this in the future in some regions. So there is a difference between now and it is a different pandemic but it has not changed at all because of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are going to need this in the future in some regions. So there is a difference between now and it is a different pandemic but it has not changed at all because of the COVID-19 or the pandemic. So we need to be able to represent at least for two months. Do you have a follow-up? Yes. And for Dr Henry and Minister Dix, how likely is it that steps four of the reopening plan will go ahead on September 4 as planned given where we stand with cases and hospitalizations right now? Another thing that we are evaluating on an ongoing basis and we are looking at what are the measures we need to take? What are the things that we can do? What are the patterns that we are seeing with the virus strains that are circulating right now? And as we know the Delta strain is much more transmissible in a variety of different settings and also the time of year where we are going into the fall again. So I think we will have a lot more to say about that on Monday. I can tell you that my own it won't be a surprise that I think we are likely to we always said this would be the earliest and it's very likely that we won't be seeing move to any more loosening of restrictions in the near term. But we will continue to watch both cases as we have said. Cases being low and steady and hospitalizations decreasing and we have met our immunization targets but not those other pieces right now. And it's a very evolving situation that we know over the last couple of weeks things have changed quite dramatically. I think it's a very good point and just mind everyone we are at step 3 right now and we are going carefully step by step through this process. So the evaluation was to go to step 4 as it is in every case we based on the evidence and we set out what the standard is when we announced the plan on May 25th and you can see that people remember the chart on the left-hand side it reflects cases and hospitalizations and vaccination. And as Dr. Henry has said we have reached our vaccination target but we have to get higher and that's why we are continuing to aggressively push even though we have a very high level of vaccination compared to just about any jurisdiction in the world the 83% of first dose immunization we reached today the 74.3% of second dose immunization those are significant achievements of our vaccination plan and obviously for those who are vaccinated it's led to very significant protections for them. But there's vaccination there's cases, there's hospitalizations and those and all of the factors which will be reviewed between now and September as Dr. Henry said I don't think if we were talking from today that where we are in terms of cases and hospitalization reflects where we need to be we need to move forward but those assessments are being made in French I would say that we have a process step-by-step to proceed at each step in this program of opening and it's going to be founded on evidence and it's going to continue to be founded on evidence and it's going to continue to be founded on evidence so the decision that will be taken in two weeks to come before this date that is serious but until now we are not at a level of case that supports this movement it was I think the start of September or at least the start of September as we said and it's going to continue and we are not at a level of case but we are not at a level of case but we are going to do this work and we will have more to say on that one day after the weekend. Our next question is from Giao Jiu. Go ahead. Next week is getting awfully close to the start of school and the Deputy Minister of Advanced Education said in a letter that universities cannot bring in mandates for masks and vaccines. You said that you will be announcing new guidelines next week. Can we expect new restrictions and a class year that looks like last year? Thanks. So there's two different things you're talking about there. One is K-12 and the other is advanced education and that was not a letter from me and we have been working as I've said a number of times we have a committee that has been working with advanced education and post-secondary institutions and yes, we are revising and understanding the impacts of the strains that we're seeing and the immunization programs that we have and health authorities have been working very closely with Advanced Ed as has my team and we will have more to say about that next week as well as K-12 and as you know, we put out the preliminary guidance in June and we will be able to provide to students and thanks to the great work of educators and school staff and all that we learned in the past year keeping schools open through the entire year and now we're in a different position and yes, we're re-evaluating those as well with the new evidence that we have around what's transmitting and where in communities this virus is transmitting and those as well will be updated next week. There's been an ongoing consultation with teachers, with parents groups, with school staff, superintendents and the Ministry of Education and my team and those also will come out in more detail next week. But it is one of those things where this is a fluid situation. We're learning as we go every time this virus changes, every time there's a change in the transmission parameters, we need to reassess and make sure we're doing the things that are right so we need to take the time to do that and to make sure that we're meeting the needs of all the different stakeholder groups. So yes, you'll hear more about K-12 next week as well. Do you have a follow-up? Yes, I do. Dr. Henry, your last briefing to introduce the requirement for staff and residents at long-term care homes to be vaccinated, you said we've seen the impact on long-term care where we now have eight outbreaks introduced by unvaccinated people. You said we've seen spread both to residents and staff. Could you please tell us how many hospitalizations and deaths among those that are vaccinated that has been infected in this way? The hospitalizations of residents, there's been no hospitalizations or deaths in staff. There has been, I believe, two residents who were hospitalized and one death that I'm aware of as I understand it in an immunized person in the last of those eight outbreaks. But I can get you those details. We have time for one more question today. And we'll go to Lisa Euston, News 1130. Lisa, please go ahead. Hi there, Dr. Henry. With you expanding the mask mandates in the interior and looking at vaccination rates like in the north and the north, why not do a preemptive move to just ask people to wear masks again when we see what's happening in other countries even that have high vaccination rates like we have. They're moving to masks again. Why not just do it preemptively instead of waiting until it's necessary if things get worse? Good question. And it's one of the measures as we've said all along. And where we see high transmission rates, it becomes more important. And when we see high transmission rates in those, the settings where a mask can make a difference, it becomes more important. And so that's one of the reasons and that's one of the reasons why we're relooking at some of the indoor settings where people are spending a lot of time together and the role of masks in those settings. We are also, you know, in the north it's a very different situation where we're seeing the transmission. The transmission is low in many communities. And as you know, I do encourage people to wear masks in indoor public settings when they're around people that they don't know, particularly where we don't know the immunization status and then in those settings it becomes important too. Lisa, do you have a follow-up? During the backlash that happened and the criticism that came because if you're not wearing a mask when taking a picture is a busy place when you go to the White Caps game this coming week will you alter what you do there? Will you wear a mask throughout? You know what, it's not. This is an open outdoor setting with lots of ventilation. I think we need to look at risk and yes, I do wear a mask in all these indoor public settings especially in those more confined spaces. But you know, we've said all along that masks have this particular role in a particular setting so if I'm in an outdoor setting without keeping physical distance from people that's when a mask is not necessary and I think we need to be really careful about sending the wrong messages about mask wearing as well and yes, there are indoor settings when you're crowded with people that it is much more important and I follow those as well and I'm very cautious about how I do that and that's all the time we have for today. Thank you everyone for joining.