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B.C. prepares to host regional COVID-19 91Ƶvirtual town halls91Ƶ

One in each health authority, hosted by local MLAs
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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix update B.C. on the COVID-19 situation, April 14, 2020. (B.C. government)

The B.C. health ministry is holding five 91Ƶvirtual town halls91Ƶ around the province during the week starting April 17 to give people a chance to ask questions of those in charge of day-to-day response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The events will be one each for each regional health authority, Northern Health, Interior Health, Fraser Health, Vancouver Island Health and Vancouver Coastal Health. They will be hosted by local MLAs, one government and one opposition, and offer responses from regional medical officers of health and health authority CEOs.

91ƵI think it91Ƶs very important we have an opportunity for the people who are leading our efforts in these regions, the CEOs of health authorities and medical health officers to be able to answer directly questions that people in regions have,91Ƶ Health Minister Adrian Dix said April 15, adding that times and call-in details are coming soon.

The first event is set for April 17 in the Vancouver Coastal region.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry described the province91Ƶs efforts to extend pandemic prevention and response to remote and Indigenous communities. One of those is the use of portable testers called Genexperts, which B.C. has on hand and has converted for use to detect the novel coronavirus.

91ƵWe have been able to deploy testing to better support our more remote and Indigenous communities around the province, and that91Ƶs something that I think is going to be incredibly important for us to be able to detect cases early, to detect clusters of cases, and to appropriately and safely manage in these communities,91Ƶ Henry said.

Earlier in the day, Premier John Horgan responded to calls for more enforcement of group gatherings and vacation travel on ferries or into small communities.

91ƵI think public scorn is as effective a tool as a fine or a ticket or some other action of government,91Ƶ Horgan said.



tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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