Following crackdown on social gatherings in B.C., workplaces the new COVID-19 hotspots

Between 30 and 40 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases in B.C. are happening in workplaces, according to the province's top doctor.

“It’s not so much the public interface,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a news conference today, Jan. 29. “We’re not seeing it in people who are shopping at Costco. Where we are seeing it is in people who are working together.”

WorkSafeBC is increasing efforts to make these workplaces safer.

A few weeks ago, about one third of new cases were coming from social gatherings. Since restrictions on such gatherings were put in place last fall, that has improved.

But there are still social gatherings in places like Williams Lake, Fernie and Whistler where people are socializing and spreading COVID-19.

At ski hills, for example, it’s not the skiing that’s a problem but the socializing people do before and after skiing, she said.

Dr. Henry said it can take very little to spread the disease. A birthday party with six people attending may infect all six who then take it into six different workplaces.

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