 Good afternoon, my name is Adrian Dix, I'm BC's Minister of Health and my right is Dr Bonnie Henry, BC's Provincial Health Officer. This is our COVID-19 briefing for British Columbia for Monday, July the 13th. We are honored to be here on the territories of the people of the Songhees and the Esquimalt First Nations. Tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday, at around 3 o'clock, we will be providing written briefings with updates about COVID-19 new cases in British Columbia. We will be providing written briefings with updates about British Columbia. On Thursday, there will be another in-person briefing here from Victoria, Dr Henry, and myself. On Friday, there will be a written briefing. And then the following Monday, there will be a written briefing as well. Next Monday, and we will be back here on Tuesday at 3 o'clock as well. So that is the update over the next week. And with that, I am honored to introduce Dr Bonnie Henry. Thank you and good afternoon and I will correct you in that this is a COVID-19 update for July 6. Not 13th, quite yet. I know. I was hoping. So we have three reporting periods for today's update. Friday to Saturday, we had nine additional cases test positive for COVID-19. Between Saturday and Sunday, we had 15 people who tested positive. And Sunday to today, an additional seven people. That is a total of 31 people who have tested positive. And Sunday to today, an additional seven people. And Sunday to Sunday, we had 31 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, bringing our total in British Columbia to 2,978 people. That includes 1,008 people in the Vancouver coastal health region. 1,570 people in Fraser health. 132 people in the Vancouver island health region. 203 people in the interior health region. And 65 people in the northern health region. We have no new health care outbreaks. We remain with the four active outbreaks in the health care system. Three in long-term care and one in acute care. We have had an additional 11 new cases in those facilities. Two of whom are residents, bringing the total to 393 residents. And 246 staff who have been affected with COVID-19. So we currently have 166 people who have tested positive. And we have 166 active cases of whom 16 people are in hospital for whom are in critical care or ICU. Sadly, we have had six people who have died over the past three days. Four in the Vancouver coastal health region. All of them in long-term care. And two in the Fraser health region. One of whom was a person who passed away earlier in June at Langley Law School but the death in review has been attributed to COVID-19. So this brings our total a number of people who have died. Actually, I don't have the total in front of me. But we want to pass on our condolences to all of those, particularly the families of the people who have passed away over the last few days. As always, this is such a challenging time to have a loved one pass away. And we know that they are mourned by their family, by their caregivers and their communities here in BC. We have 2,629 people who have fully recovered from COVID-19. As you know, over this past weekend, things have been progressing in terms of our new normal. And I know many of us have found many more people out on the streets enjoying the weather that we have here in BC. And the many of us in the many activities that we can do safely right now. But importantly, we are following the rules that we have established for those safe social interactions. The rules that are our foundation to be able to keep our economy going, to keep our social interactions going, to keep our businesses. And as we have seen, these new normal rules are very doable. We can live with these. Younger old in the city, a small town, we can all do and must do the right thing. This means leading by example like we have been doing in BC since the start of our pandemic. Assuming the best in those around us. As we have seen an increase in the number of visitors from elsewhere in Canada in these last couple of weeks, many businesses who rely on visitors and tourism have retooled and put together safety plans to allow them to open the doors to other Canadians. And let's show other Canadians how they too can do their part when they are here in BC. Anyone who is new to British Columbia, from elsewhere in Canada, whether they are coming for work or on vacation, needs to understand that here in BC we are keeping our bubbles small. We are having smaller numbers of people that we are gathering with. We are maintaining our safe distance from others, whether it is in a store, on transit, or in our community. Using masks when it is safe to maintain that safe distance and always, always staying away from others and staying home if we are feeling ill. Anyone from outside of Canada who is here for essential travel or is returning home is required to follow Canada's quarantine order to self-isolate for 14 days prior to interacting with us in the community. And while this quarantine order is an important part of Canada's border protection, we remind all British Columbians to be aware of their kindness and understanding to those around us. We have to remember that many Canadians reside elsewhere and many of them are only now returning home, many have returned home in the months since this pandemic started. So let's assume the best. And rather than offering judgment, continue to do what we have been doing with kindness and compassion. COVID-19 has created many, many uncertainties and fear, but we have built a strong bond with Canada and we will keep all of us safe in the weeks and months ahead. And we need to keep that balance so that we can continue to have visitors to our long-term care homes so we can continue to go to restaurants, we can continue to meet with each other. And through our own personal efforts and actions, we can protect our communities, particularly our elders and seniors who we know are more vulnerable and our loved ones. We are monitoring and managing all of the new cases that we have in BC every day, making sure that we have all of the contacts and we are doing our bit by minimizing those contacts that we have so that we can modify as we need and how we run our businesses, how we spend time with others. We have worked hard to flatten our COVID-19 curve in British Columbia and by continuing to stay vigilant, to follow our guidelines and work together, we can continue to keep our communities, our families and our province safe. And in doing so, let's remember to be kind, to be calm and to be safe. Thank you very much, Dr Henry. And this is obviously a very somber day for us. Six people are announcing the deaths of six people from COVID-19 in BC over the past three days. And one of them, as Dr Henry has said, is from earlier in June, but we know the price that COVID-19 has taken from us as a whole community. We know and can identify that in many ways, but to lose six people all in long-term care over the last three days is a source of enormous grief for the families involved, for the caregivers involved, for the communities involved. And we share that sense of loss, that sense of grief with them and with the 100 million people involved. And with them and with 183 people and their families who have passed away from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in British Columbia, it is a moment, I think, of sorrow for all of us. And we want to make sure that that sorrow is felt, because I know people feel it throughout the province for all those families who have lost their loved ones. I want to say that there, as noted, 16 people in hospital and in Fraser Health, they are part of the outbreak at mission, at the mission Memorial Hospital. Obviously, we are, those are being monitored very carefully. And I think on the question of long-term care, and I want to speak briefly about family visits in long-term care, that on the question of long-term care, that continues to be an ongoing concern for all of us and everyone in the healthcare system, all those people, all those families who are struggling and are dealing with the situation at Holy Family and Mission Memorial and at other care homes in BC, all those who have felt the anxiety that comes with an outbreak being declared whatever its size since the beginning of this pandemic, we are thinking of them and continuing to be concerned about the outcomes for everyone in long-term care. As you know, last Tuesday we had a long-term care with respect to long-term care and social and family visitation. Health authorities are actively engaging with operators to support them in the development of plans, plans in accordance with the requirements of the policy so that visits can occur in long-term care homes. It is expected that the majority of operators will submit their plans to health authorities this week and that social and family visitation for most of those facilities will start next week. It is important to remember that visitation may start sooner, as early as this week and as early as they are coming days in some facilities and later in others, depending on the work required at each facility to meet the requirements. Visits, of course, must be scheduled in advance and operators are required to maintain a list of visitors and their contact information. I will have more information about that in the next week. It is an important issue. We will have that on Thursday, including the number of plans submitted and approved. As I usually do on Monday and Tuesday, I want to bring you an update on PPE in particular, as you know, as we do as of last Monday, June 29th, we had procured since the end of March, 5,933,095 equivalent respirators, 22,300,000 surgical or procedure masks, 2,301,000 pieces of eye protection, almost 50 million pairs of gloves, and over 2,825,000 gallons. This week, in the week since last Monday, June 29th, we have received the following 15,342,000 and 95 are equivalent respirators, 516,250 surgical or procedure masks, 3,666,000 of eye protection. We have received the following 15,342,000 and 95 are equivalent respirators, 516,250 surgical or procedure masks, 3,666,000 250 pairs of gloves and 114,160 gallons. We will continue to source and test our PPE and are working hard to pursue any and all credible leads for safe and effective product for our health care system. And finally, just in closing, as you know, on June 24th, Premier Horgan and Dr. Henry announced our transition to our phase 3 of our COVID-19 response. And as we start the third week of this transition, one guided by science, prudence and care, our commitment to stopping the spread, stands. We know that physical distancing saves lives. We know that bending the curve, not the rules has brought us to this point in our social, surgical and economic renewal. We know that in our individual and collective BC effort with COVID-19, we made the difference. We also know that this continues to be with us in communities. 31 cases over three days, 26 who have passed away. And it reminds us how we are all linked in dealing with COVID-19. If that linkage, that coming together, that work of everyone in the community that has brought us to this point, so is staying 100% all in on our BC COVID-19 response. And this summer, our effort must continue this day and every day, no matter where we are in BC and no matter where anyone else is, anywhere else in the world. The summers will welcome chance for all of us to catch our breath, to recharge and renew ourselves. By staying 100% committed to stopping the spread, we give the peace of mind and calm we seek and that we need in this period where we have this enormous challenge before us. Today we are making the point on the number of new cases for three days of 24 hours each for those of 3 and 4 July, those of 4 and 5 July and those of 5 to 6 July in half a day. We are saddened to announce six new cases linked to COVID-19 in the health and well-being of Fraser, 2 and the Vancouver Coastal 4. For a total of 183 cases in British Columbia, we offer condolence to all those who have lost their loved ones during this pandemic. On this day, 2629 people in the COVID-19 test were positive, so now we are able to go back to the table. For the first period of reference, which is until July 4, we have 9 new cases. For the second period of reference, which is until July 5, we have 15 new cases. During the last 24 hours, 7 new cases have been added for a total of 2,900 cases in British Columbia. For a total of 2,968 cases in British Columbia, we offer condolence to all those who have lost their loved ones during this pandemic. Thank you very much. We are happy to take your questions. Thank you, minister. As a reminder to callers on the phone, you are limited to one question and one follow-up. Please take yourselves off mute. If you wish to enter the queue to ask a question, please press star one. If you have entered the queue, please repress star one to ensure your place. Hi, Dr. Henry. I hope you are doing okay. I was looking at this new paper that is out today where there are several kinders who talk about airborne transmission of the virus. I was wondering if you could explain what that means and what do you have thought about this new paper and the concerns raised by these scientists across the world about this airborne quality of the virus? I want to start off by saying that the WHO has been doing an amazing job at trying to keep up with what is going on. I think the way that at least the report that I saw that was presented, I don't think they presented the WHO perspective in a way that was, I think it was more trying to foment a bit of controversy. What these people were looking at and this is something that has been an ongoing discussion for many, many years and COVID is only one of the latest viral infections in this case where we have these discussions. We have had many of these discussions around influenza in particular, but certainly other ones as well. And where the challenge comes is we know that there is a gradation of how droplets come out when somebody coughs or sneezes or talks. And it is the smaller ones that can be breathed deep into the lungs and it's the larger ones that are often deposited up in the back of the throat or in the upper part of the lungs. And when we talk about something in the healthcare world as being airborne transmitted, what we're talking about are viruses that are in very small populations that can last in the air for many hours often and then can float in the air column and can be transmitted down the hallway or through the ventilation system, for example. And the ones that we most commonly associate with that type of transmission are viruses like measles. Smallpox was one that could be transmitted through the air as well as bacterial infections like tuberculosis. When we're talking about viruses like COVID and influenza, primarily they're in the larger droplets that are transmitted when you're close to somebody. And yes, we can find some of them and we can find some smaller droplets. There's a range of size when somebody is talking. But we know that the amount of virus and the moisture the virus needs to stay alive is a bit more for some of these viruses like influenza and COVID. So you're more likely to breathe it in. So in the fact that it's transmitted through the air, I think we're all on the same page about that. And the fact that it's not transmitted long distances in the air column, we're all on the same page about that. Where there's some challenges is how much of it is due to the small aerosols that are transmitted when I'm in the air. And how much of it do I breathe deep into my lungs and how much of it is deposited in the upper airways. So it's really a bit of nuance, I think. The WHO has always said and we agree that when you are providing care in a healthcare setting for somebody with COVID-19, with influenza, it is incredibly important to do a number of things. We have what we call a mask or a respirator. It's about minimizing the time you spend in the room, making sure that you do fastidious hand hygiene, that you wear both a respirator or a mask and eye protection as well, being incredibly important. So it's all of those things that we have in place that protect people. We know as well in the community, and we've said this over and over again, that it is when you're in close contact with somebody within two meters, particularly if you're indoors, where there's poor ventilation, and you're coughing or sneezing or singing or hugging or dancing, those are the situations where you're much more likely to transmit this virus. And it is, regardless of what size particle that you're breathing in at that point. So those are the situations that we know are most risky, and that's why the measures that we have in place focus on making sure that we have space between us, making sure that we have increased ventilation. So we know, for example, that if in a number of the production, food production places where we had outbreaks early on, once we put in place measures like plexiglass barriers, like wearing medical masks or non-medical masks even, like ensuring we have safe distances between people, we stopped the transmission of this virus. So that tells me that these measures that we have in place to stop droplets are effective in most situations. When we're looking at some of the situations that we need to deal with around the world, where there's a lot of people who are sick with this virus, whether it's in a healthcare setting or whether it's in a communal accommodation where people are living together in close quarters, if there are a lot of people sick and we've seen that. And we also know that it means that we are bombarded with virus in our environment and it's much, much more difficult to stop the transmission because we need to be fastidious with cleaning, we need to cover our eyes and our mouth and it's much more difficult to do that. And in a healthcare setting, one of the main reasons why we're working so hard to make sure we weren't overwhelming our healthcare system because we don't want to be in close quarters in the healthcare system means that any mistake that you make in putting on or taking off your PPE or being in close quarters with your workmates, there's no leeway that there's enough virus around that you may run a very high risk of being infected. So that's why we have in place the protocols that we do in our healthcare setting, that's why we've been so careful about what you have around the more chances that you're going to pass it on to others inadvertently. The one other thing I will say about it is, so I don't think it's either or, I think we need to take the precautions that are suitable for the environment that we're working in and we know what those are in our healthcare system and they have worked. We know what they are in our communities and they have worked. The one other sort of thing is some people shed more virus than others and we can't tell ahead of time who that's going to be. So some people, for reasons that we don't know, even if they have mild symptoms, may shed a lot of the virus and may have a higher probability of infecting others. And if somebody like that attends a church service, we've seen that happen in a couple of places or goes to a night club where they have a lot of people with poor ventilation with lots of people, we get very rapid explosive outbreaks. So it's not, I think this is something that we need to take into account and look at our own situations and come up with the best way of protecting everybody in those situations and the best way to protect people is making sure that sick people stay away from others, making sure that we are keeping our safe physical and our health care system safe. And we need to be able to administrative things to reduce the number of people in that environment. One of the reasons why we have been so anxious about having visitors in our health care system so that we can give people the time and the space they need to make sure we're cleaning properly, to make sure that we have the personal protective equipment that we need. So it's kind of a long answer. So with Dr. Hindi, you just said we should try and spend minimum time in a room. What does this mean for offices or pubs or public transportation or restaurants, things like that? Yeah, well, that's why we have put in place the measures that we have to reduce the number of people in those environments. So restaurants, for example, maintaining the spacing between tables, keeping the groups in those spaces, keeping the space small, so we have a limit of six people at a table. The reasons for that, or so that you don't have those opportunities for the virus to spread between people, putting up barriers, those are the things that work, same in an office environment, making sure we increase the ventilation as much as possible, including natural ventilation, so that helps disperse the virus if there is any there. And that's why it's so important to stay home if you're sick, to not go into work, and then all of those hybrid measures that we've put in place for the coming months to a year until we have an effective treatment or vaccine, this is where we have to find our balance. Doing the things that we have put in place in our retail outlets and transportation, those are the things that we have to do to make sure that we have an effective treatment. Next question is from Von Palmer, Vancouver Sun. Good afternoon, Doctor Henry. Thanks for taking my question. I see a report out of Seattle where they're saying that although there's been this surge in cases in Washington state, they don't see any obvious link where they could say that the virus was spread by the public protests, by the large outdoor public protests. Are there any links between people who have COVID-19 and them having acquired it at one of these public protests? Do you have any indication here one way or another whether we've seen cases that were related to the big public protests we had here in British Columbia? There's a couple of things on that. We had this discussion with my colleagues in Washington and Oregon No, we have not seen so we follow up every single case here in BC as you know. Currently we do not have any cases that have been associated with the protests that took place. I think there's a number of reasons for that. And in talking with my colleagues in the U.S. they also have not seen surges related to those activities. And it is likely a combination of the mostly being outside, being shorter periods next to people perhaps. Many people at least here in BC keeping distances, wearing masks and those things can help. I think particularly the outside nature of them makes a big difference. Having said that, where they have seen in the United States in particular, outside transmission is large groups going to parties and events on the beaches for example, where they have had transmission between people who are spending time in the U.S. or spending time even though it's outdoors together in large groups in those settings. So there's something inherently different about what you're doing with a group of people partying on a beach versus what we've been seeing with some of these protests. And that was surprising. I think many of us thought that it would be a similar risk. But I think it has to do similar to what we were just talking about is that the conditions are a lot of time in close contact face-to-face with somebody. And particularly if you happen to be by somebody who is spreading a lot of virus. Do you have a follow-up, Vaughn? Yeah. Maybe don't have enough data yet, but is the suggestion here that it's related to time and the amount of time you're together and whether or not you're face-to-face, not just the matter of how many of you there are and maybe also what you're doing, whether you're making a lot of noise and partying or whether you're just quietly listening to someone give a speech? Absolutely. And we've said that all along is what we call the three C's. So close contact over a continuous period of time in a closed environment are the ways that we know this is more likely to be transmitted. But yes, if we're in an environment and we say 15 minutes is a sort of minimum. So I think the corollary of that is, the corollary of that is, that you're not likely to get infected by somebody walking past on the street. Even somebody running past you on the street is, if they happen to be infected, those are not the environments where we're going to see this being transmitted. It's when you're spending time with people, when you're sharing foods and drinks with people, when you're partying, dancing, laughing, hugging, those are the situations that are much more likely to spread droplets between people. Next question is from Binder Sajjan, CTV. Hi, Dr. Henry. A lot of people are watching what's going on in the United States with their case numbers and wondering when would it be possible to even think about reopening that border? And I'm wondering, I know this is a federal government decision, but in your mind, what would you like to see, ideally or practically, in terms of taking that next step, I guess, so loose in border restrictions? Yeah, you know, obviously we're very concerned. We know that that's how we got into trouble back in March, is that we had a lot of people coming across the border. A number of our new cases are people who've either traveled or been in contact with somebody who just came back from the U.S. recently in my home province of PEI had contact with somebody who had come up from the U.S. after not having cases for several months. So it is a worry, it's very much a concern. We know there's quite a bit of travel across the border, but nothing like what we usually see. I cannot see vacation travel this summer from the U.S., given the rates that we're seeing and how widespread it is in the U.S. right now. And it really shows us that once this virus starts to spread in the community, if we're not taking those measures that many states took early on and you open up too much too soon, or people aren't doing the things that we seem to be doing here very well in Canada and here in BC, making sure that we have these precautions in place, then you can get widespread transmission. And though their hospitalization and ICUs are not being overwhelmed in the same way that they were early on, we are now, even young, healthy people can get very sick with this. And if you have lots of people sick, then the probability of having young people get very sick and die goes up dramatically. And we've seen that with some very young people who've died recently. So it is a worry in terms of the border. It is a federal decision, but I know there's been ongoing conversations with across the country. So I do see, you know, I was encouraging to make sure we had opportunities for families to reunify across the border. I know how challenging that can be. But any further loosening of the restrictions needs to be accompanied by ensuring that people know the restrictions that they need to follow once they're here, including self-isolation for that incubation period. Do you have a follow-up, Binder? I'm just wondering, I know there would be discussions with you and your counterparts, but I mean, just given what's happening in the United States, is it possible, even at this point, to think about, you know, case numbers or trend lines that it would take to feel comfortable with reopening? Well, the U.S. themselves, they have some reopening criteria that they're following, and I know very familiar with what they're using in Washington and Oregon, for example, which is all very similar. The U.S. CDC has actually recommended a number of the criteria, so, you know, number of cases per population and things like that. But importantly, and what we're doing here in BC, what are the things I keep saying that we need to measure and that we are following every day is unlinked cases and our ability in public health to follow up every single case. And when you have people who are skilled at doing that, and we can find people and link people and stop the outbreaks from spreading very rapidly, very quickly, and we've been able to do that here. So once they get to that point in the U.S., I think that will be very helpful. And they were certainly doing a really great job of that in Washington and Oregon, in particular, in Idaho and Alaska. And now it's tipped the other way, and they've become, have very large outbreaks where people have not been following safe distancing rules and things. So it's been a challenge for them. And we want, I mean, the best thing for all of us in North America is for Mexico is for the United States is for Canada to all have this virus under control. So anything that we can do to support our colleagues in the U.S. we are trying to do. So yes, it would depend a lot about how many outbreaks they're having, how many unrelated, unlinked cases and ability to follow up with public health. I agree. I don't think it's any time soon. It's important to remember it's not just the issue of people visiting Canada. It's Canadians visiting the United States that would be not possible at this point. Many of the places we would visit Washington and Oregon are obvious, but also Arizona and Nevada and California. These are states where Canadians and British Columbians visit frequently. And clearly the trend line is entirely in the opposite direction. And this is true around the world. These have been the highest days for COVID-19. And what that reminds us of, I think, is the absolute need to continue to be vigilant in what we're doing here. One of the extraordinary things that's happened here is the work of people in public health, as Dr. Henry has said, in the fact tracing they have done. That is possible and practical or much more possible and much more practical in the number of cases is the absolute number of cases is less. And this struggle that our American friends are having, but not just them in Mexico and in India and in other jurisdictions around the world, is a message to us to be humble about our successes and also to be vigilant to ensure that we continue to be all in, as I like to say, against COVID-19, because the consequences, economic and social consequences of having to go back on opening up the economy that we're seeing in 17 or 18 U.S. states right now are significant and negative for all walks of life and all elements of society from healthcare to the economy to our social interactions. Do you have a follow-up? That was it. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, next question is from Martella Bernardo, News 1130. Hi, everyone. I know you touched on this a bit during your opening statements, but for Dr. Henry, how concerned are you about the fact that we're seeing people now only dying in long-term care homes and the concerns leading into family visits and how much you stress that we need to be careful that we're not bringing this virus into these homes again? From the very beginning, we knew that once this virus got into a long-term care home, the potential for people to die, and we've seen that in all of these goes dramatically up. I think the good news is that we have reduced the amount of transmission in our community so much so that we have very few people in hospital, we have very few people who are transmitting in our community. And that's why we feel we're at that balance where we need to allow more people to go into long-term care. But it is that balance. We have to keep doing what we are doing in our community settings, being mindful of our balance, being mindful of the numbers of people that we're in contact with. And if we have somebody who's in long-term care homes, we need to be aware of the importance of staying away from some of those settings where we might put ourselves at more risk. And we have to be absolutely fastidious about staying away if we're not feeling well at all. So those are the balances that we have to make as families, as communities, to make sure that we do protect our long-term care homes. And it really has been a progression. And we have low enough rates in our community now that we can manage this as long as we all be mindful and considerate and continue to do what we've been doing. Do you have a follow-up, Martella? Yes, just regarding all of the chatter in the past week about Americans vacationing in BC and how you stress the importance of people trying to be compassionate and understanding that these people may be Canadians that might be coming across the border, have you had any evidence yet of anyone vacationing from the United States that's exposing people to COVID-19? Have any of these cases been linked to those specific allegations? Not that I'm aware of. None of the cases that we have in BC have been related to people that we know have been here from the United States. We know that there are essential workers, Americans and Americans who come back and forth across the border. And we have had people become sick once they're here in BC. But not anybody that I'm aware of who's in here in BC vacationing when they shouldn't be. Next question is from Megan Curran. Hello, Bonnie. Thank you for taking my question. How do you feel that youth in BC have responded to the COVID-19 message about physical distancing and avoiding group activities? Do you feel the seriousness of the disease has become recognized by youth? You know, I ask this question of young people in my life. And it, as it does with everything, varies. Most young people are very community-minded. Many of them have gone through, I mean, this is a very difficult time for young people. The uncertainty, particularly if you're graduating from high school this year, you know, it was not the experience you might have wanted. And so I have a lot of empathy for young people and what they're going through. If you're starting university and suddenly everything's gone online, you're not sure what your job prospects are, these are very challenging times. And young people are social people in ways that are challenging to curtail sometimes. But I think the vast majority of young people in BC and across Canada are taking this very seriously. They're seeing what's happening to their families and their communities and they're being respectful of each other. And I've been incredibly impressed by youth in British Columbia and how they have responded and the resilience that they've shown and the caring for their communities. Do you have a follow-up, Megan? No. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm an 18-year-old myself just graduated from high school, so I completely understand what you have to say. And on behalf of all youth, I really appreciate what you're doing for us. So thank you so much, Dr. Henry. Thank you. And you know what? I was just so impressed at first, you know, when everybody was saying, oh, graduation, you're ruining everything. You're ruining my life as some young people in my life told me. But the innovative and the really neat ways people have come together and celebrated that, I just, my hats off to young people. Next question is from Michael Potestio, Kamloops this week. Hi there. We've had a long-term care home provider express concern to us about an inability to compete with the province when it comes to hero pay. She said the organization has been impacted financially by the pandemic, fewer residents, and more money having to be spent on cleaning and PPE, and increasing employee pay by $4 per hour. And I think it's important to remember that cleaning and PPE, increasing employee pay by $4 per hour has been done by the government for public employees isn't feasible. So my question is why are employees for privately funded healthcare excluded from hero pay and does not concern you that care at private homes could be impacted if employees were to leave jobs in a publicly funded home, which may pay more? You're specifically referring, I think, to the pandemic pay proposal. There's two sets of proposals, obviously one is the single site proposal where there was a lifting up of employees to the, essentially to the HABC standard. And that occurred and that's occurring across health authorities based on an order from the provincial health officer. So that's one set of things. The second is issue of pandemic pay, which is 16 weeks of pay in certain sectors. And that, the only limitation was it went to members of the community. The only limitation was it went to many private care homes with those that provide public services. All those employees got that. The only people that are excluded from that category are those that are serving private care homes where the expectation for pandemic pay would be from the employer in those cases. So this in British Columbia I think our pandemic pay has been the widest of any jurisdiction in the country or at least as wide as any jurisdiction and wider the most jurisdiction. So more people are eligible, including people who work in for-profit or non-profit long-term care homes, for example, who are essentially serving the public through public beds. So we had a wide thing. I know some people would like it wider and there's several proposals to widen it out. This is a federal provincial decision about the limits of the size of the programs and our decision was to limit it for that period, for that 16-week period where the pandemic pay was available, $4 an hour was available to people who are contractors to government or direct government employees in those cases. Thank you and do you have a follow-up, Michael? Thank you very much. Thank you. Next question is from Keith Baldry, Global News. Thanks for taking my question. I don't want to belabor this particular point but back to US visitors and such. I know you've told, since day one, not to make, not to rush to judgment of why people are in terms of traveling. We don't know their back stories. But I have to say anecdotally, the amount of queries we're getting from people who are angry that they see American license plates out there when they don't know the back story, are you concerned at all about this not behaving properly when we're looking at people with non-British license plate? I think it's a sign of the fact that this has been anxiety provoking, it's been frightening, we've all had to suffer and sacrifice to get through this last few months and it worries us when we see people who may not understand our risk and our anxieties and our fears. And it is a reflection of fear and concern and sometimes that comes out as anger and sometimes that comes out as intolerance. But I think for the most part we need to take a step back and just realize we may not know everybody's back story and that we need to be open and I think here in British Columbia, it is perfectly valid for us to say this is how we do things here in a gentle way and model that behavior and ensure that people know what their expectations are and that includes keeping safe distances, it includes keeping our groups small. It includes if you're on your way to Alaska then you're on your way to Alaska and we will support you in getting there safely. So those are the things that we need to remember now and we need to continue to do what we've been doing which is caring for each other to get through this together. Do you have a follow-up to the very first question about that 269 scientist paper? I take it from your answer which is quite detailed that that will not convince you to change your protocols when it comes to public health measures such as physical distancing and the wearing of masks. No. It is something that I have thought about and it has many people across the country and around the globe as you can tell. But these are the measures that we've put in place have been based on a hierarchy of controls. So it's not just about wearing a mask or a respirator. It's not just about one thing. It's about having those layers and we know that if we start having more transmission in the community then we need to have other layers. We need to be more careful about them. We may need to require, for example, masks in certain places so that we have multiple things in place to protect us. Not just focusing on one thing or another. And that goes for the health care system as well as for the measures that we're doing in the community. And I actually think it's a little bit of a tempest and a teapot in that we all agree on the extremes and we're really sort of fussing a little bit about how much we need to pay attention to the bits in the middle. That allows us to adjust as we're going through the transmission in our community and the situation that we're in. And each individual outbreak situation, for example, we might do things slightly differently depending on, you know, a mixed accommodation situation versus a workplace situation. So I think it is important for us to continue to look at the data, to look at where we're seeing transmission events and adapt if we need to to put in place extra measures. I also think, you know, I really hope that this stimulates some more innovation in things like more effective and easier to wear masks that we can use repeatedly that are much more effective. It discourages me that we're here after SARS in 2003 and a pandemic of H1N1 influenza in 2009 and we still don't have a decent fitting mask that can be used in easily in settings in all healthcare settings. So those are the types of things I'd like to see some innovation in. We have time for one more question today for any reporters that didn't get to ask a question. There will be a statement released later this afternoon. For recommendations on protecting families and communities from COVID-19, visit bccdc.ca for questions about the province's COVID-19 response, visit gov.bc.ca forward slash COVID-19, and for a full listing of the provincial health officers' orders, visit gov.bc.ca forward slash PHO guidance. Last question is from Tanya Fletcher, CBC. Good afternoon to you both. We're hearing from some family members of those in long-term care homes, they say that COVID-19 has highlighted some issues that have been happening for a long time. How does the province plan to address these issues and is more oversight or regulation needed? I think that's a, it is something, and I will say particularly in long-term care as it has uncovered a number of issues that we've known about for a long time that we've been trying to address. I will also say that this has exposed a number of issues that we've been trying to address. I will also say that this has exposed inequities in health and inequities in our communities as well that we need to address, but I'll leave it to Minister Dix to talk about long-term care. Well, I think action has been taken and more action needs to be taken in long-term care. When I became Minister of Health, the standard for care per resident day as you know in BC is 3.36 care hours automatically below that on average in British Columbia. There were 75 care homes when I became Minister of Health that were under 2.9 hours per resident day, meaning they were more than 3 hours per resident under the standard every single week, and so that's changed. There were 75, now there are none. The care standards have gone up from I think 3.08 and at the end of this year the average care standard will be 3.37 per resident day, which at least meets the provincial standard on average, which was our intention. In addition to that, we made obviously significant changes. Bill 47, which was unanimously supported in the legislature, got rid of bills 29 and 94, which created a structure in long-term care that I think wasn't either stable or healthy for many residents and for many workers. So those changes and significant ones have been made increases and significant increases in respite care. During this pandemic, the move to a single site, 8,800 workers who were at multiple sites, now everyone is assigned to a single site and supporting that with public dollars. The money this past week provided to long-term care homes across BC, the $23 million to deal with the situation between April and June and the subsequent funding to support visitation, all of these are significant steps, the access to PPE in our supply chain, which we did earlier, than many other jurisdictions. So the situation isn't perfect, but I think we've been making significant progress, these very significant investments that have been made in the last two years that have changed the structure of long-term care. The final thing I'd say is from the beginning, everyone has been working, from the beginning of this pandemic, everyone has worked together cooperatively, unions and private long-term care homes and public ones and health authorities and the ministry of health and health officers in every health authority have worked together cooperatively and that team BC approach has really helped us during this period. So I think we can continue to make progress. Do you have a follow-up, Tanya? Please, minister, just hearing you list all of those things that you've done since your government came in regarding long-term care homes, I know the premier has said those same things and he has dismissed the idea of a public inquiry, but if more evidence of these types of conditions or proof comes forward about gaps in the system, would you commit to a public inquiry? So we talked today about the significant issues at a couple of long-term care homes and in particular, Holy Family Care Home, which is connected to Providence Health Care, which is one of the most highly respected health providers, non-profit health providers in Canada, it just shows how challenging COVID-19 is for long-term care. So right now, we're focused every day on dealing with the reality of keeping people safe because we open up to visits of keeping people safe. I expect there to be reviews after the COVID-19 pandemic, where we deal with these things. But we have to take action now and the action that we've taken even in the last week to support, not just to say we're going to allow visitors, but to take substantive structural action to keep seniors and residents in long-term care safe, keep workers in long-term care so that they all should expect our increase in this time is, I think, something that is very positive. So, you know, there are going to be reviews, of course, of our COVID-19 response, of all of our COVID-19 response once it's over, but we're in the middle of this now and we've got to continue to the momentum of making improvements in long-term care and doing it with all the partners in long-term care involved. Please, thank you. In the end of this year, it will be 3.37, which is still an important increase. And we have taken measures since the beginning of this pandemic that are important, which I think are always put in the context of a British Colombian team, which is taking steps in the sector. And I think we have had successes. But I think it's going to be very difficult, especially for people with three images. And we have to recognize that we are at the stage of this effort now, at the stage of this battle, and we have to continue to increase our efforts. And there will be, of course, reviews after this pandemic to judge, to improve our response. But actually, we have to continue to work to protect people and to let them live during the period of the pandemic. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.