Stanwick: more health care workers need to be prioritized for vaccination

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Quam Qwum Stuwixwulh Community School temporarily closes due to COVID-19 exposure

Students at an elementary school on the Snumeymuxw First Nation will not be attending classes today or tomorrow because of a COVID-19 exposure. Qwam Qwum Stuwixwulh school will be closed for the next two days for deep cleaning. A letter to parents and guardians yesterday says the exposure happened last Thursday. It says the school is closed out of an abundance of caution, while Island Health completes its contact tracing and risk assessment. The Snuneymuxw reported a cluster of COVID-19 cases earlier this month, but the nation says there are currently no active cases of the virus in the community.

Island Health identifying groups who are not on the province’s list

Island Health's Chief Medical Officer says the health authority is asking the Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Officer to include more health care workers on its priority list for COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Richard Stanwick says Island Health's clinical advisory committee has identified several groups of health care workers who are not on the province's list.

"Whether it's community workers and we're talking about some of our outreach workers who are seeking out individuals who may be COVID or are high risk, the individuals who do the home visits, in terms of home care. All of the people who are providing a service are being identified. They aren't under the radar. They are on the radar and these lists are actually being put forward to the province and saying 'this is the way we believe we need to prioritize people, based on the risk.' So we do not want to miss anybody."
—Island Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Richard Stanwick.

So far, Island Health has offered vaccines to everyone who works and lives in long term and assisted living facilities.

Urban Mayors: complex care facilities needed in B.C.

Mayors from B.C.’s largest cities, including Nanaimo, are asking the province to help address the mental health, substance use and homelessness crises with the creation of a new type of housing. The B.C. Urban Mayors’ Caucus wants the province to build five complex care housing facilities across the province within a year. Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog says the need is painfully obvious.

"There are a number of individuals in each of our communities who suffer from severe mental health and addiction issues, often coupled with brain injury. What we're asking for as urban mayors is a realistic acceptance of the fact that there are people in dire straits on our streets, whose lives are not improving, who are literally dying in the streets, who we are condemning to die in the streets because we do not have the complex care facilities that they need."
—City of Nanaimo Leonard Krog.

The pilot project proposes the construction of 40 to 50 unit housing facilities, staffed with doctors, addiction counsellors and mental health specialists with one on Vancouver Island, the north, the interior and two in Vancouver. Krog says the proposal was well received in meetings last week, with the Minister of Housing, David Eby and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson. However, a response may not come until the province tables its annual budget in April.