Thought of the Day - April 9 2021 - Major Strategy Change in BC

When I first saw the announcement: "Expedited workplace closure order: Starting next Monday, when three or more people in a single workplace have COVID-19 that is determined to be a result of transmission in that workplace, then WorkSafeBC inspectors can shut that business down." I was thinking that there had been a major change in policy, however, looking more closely you will see the words "can" rather than "will" and "determined to be" "rather than "immediately" and now Bonnie Henry has said that "there are many workplaces that can’t be closed" - so I guess this is just a fine-tuning of the process. It just means WorkSafe BC is back in the middle of things, and business will have another uncertainty to deal with.

The one good point is the announcement of the 'List of Shame': "the list of workplace closures and their expected reopening dates will also be made available to the public" - while I thought this was already happening, looking at the various BC Health Sites all they list is government service locations (schools, courthouses, medical facilities etc.) and a long list of flights. All the other outbreaks, reported in the press, are not even mentioned; there has been no update on Public Events or Work Sites since October 16th, 2020.

All this to say, yesterday's announcement is also partially to placate the BC Greens, who recently resurrected the term 'COVID-Zero' ( Thought of the Day - November 25 - COVID Zero ).

Don't get me wrong, we need to take this third-wave very seriously. We are recording record numbers, over 1,200 new cases a day now. For the first time, our case levels are on par with the top Canadian provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario), and, as we have half the average testing rates of these other provinces (439 versus 793 per thousand), we are probably missing more cases. Quebec took significant action more than six weeks ago and is now running with 30% fewer cases than the top four. However, instead of some administrative change in how businesses are scrutinized after they have had an outbreak, I was thinking we would be a little more proactive. For example:

• We should have been taking action around schools ( Thought of the Day - April 6 2021 - Spring Break-out, Thought of the Day - March 9 - Rapid Support Teams )

• We should have been taking action to enforce travel restrictions, such as done in the Maritimes ( Thought of the Day - October 29 - The Atlantic Bubble )

Cheers

Cliff