Air quality slowly improving, rain in weather forecast expected to help

🎧 Listen in your podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Google Play

Listen to the News Update

New in this update:

COVID-19 update for Wednesday September 16th

There have been 122 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in BC over the past 24 hours. However, there have been no new cases in the Island Health region since Monday. There have been no new deaths reported today but admissions to intensive care units in hospitals have doubled to 23 in one week. No one is in hospital for coronavirus in our health region.

No COVID-19 cases reported at School Districts within Island Health region

School districts will soon be reporting on COVID-19 cases. Regional health authorities are creating school notification pages. They will provide the date and type of notification, whether it be an outbreak, a cluster of cases or exposure, which is when someone from a school has tested positive for coronavirus but has little if any close contact with others. The Fraser Health Authority school notification page is in place now and shows there has been COVID-19 exposure at 6 schools. Other health authorities, including Island Health, are expected to have their school notification pages available soon. There have been no reported cases of school exposures in the Island Health region.

Registered nurses and psychiatric nurses will now be able to prescribe hydromorphone

Registered nurses and psychiatric nurses will now be able to prescribe safer alternatives to street drugs. BC's Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry issued the order today. Previously, only physicians and licensed practical nurses had the power to write prescriptions for alternative drugs like hydromorphone. BC's Minister of Health, Adrian Dix says this latest order is another step in dealing with the overdose crisis.

"Even the changes we made to expand the guidelines in March have seen a tripling of the number of people receiving hydromorphone in that project, in that program, but we felt we needed to create more opportunities that made sense for nurse practitioners and nurses to do it." —Minster of Health Adrian Dix.

Health officials say the order will help those who come into contact with nurses working on outreach teams and in-hospital psychiatric departments to avoid toxic street drugs. The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions is also looking at expanding the types of alternative drugs that can be prescribed. Statistics from July show there were 175 drug toxicity deaths in BC, and in June, there were 177 fatalities.

Air quality slowly improving

The air quality in Nanaimo has improved somewhat today. Environment Canada is rating air quality at 8, down from 10+ yesterday. However, that still means people should avoid strenuous exercise and vulnerable groups like children, seniors and pregnant women should consider staying indoors. Winds from the south are expected to continue to push smoke north over the next 24-48 hours and rain in the forecast is expected to help as well. The improvement in local air quality has led Canada Post to promise deliveries in some Nanaimo neighbourhoods today.