B.C.’s top doctor says we’re ‘in a danger zone’ with the rising number of COVID-19 cases, noting indoor settings in particular can be a place of transmission of COVID-19.

Dr. Bonnie Henry is asking everyone to support their friends and neighbours, saying it will help get us through this difficult time.

“And how we do that best is by following the important things that keep us all safe, and right now, we need to focus on reducing our social contacts,” she said. “Making sure that we are taking all of those measures to keep this virus from being transmitted in our community, and that is what is going to support all of us.”

New modelling from Canada’s Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, shows the pandemic can be brought under control in most areas if contact between people is reduced by 25 per cent.

“If we increase, or if even maintain our current rate of contact, the epidemic in Canada is forecast to continue increasing steeply,” she said in Ottawa today.

Both Dr. Tam and Dr. Henry say that means no large parties this Halloween, as Thanksgiving and other celebrations earlier this month is what has led to most of the new cases in British Columbia, particularly in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.

“If we are doing trick-or-treating, it needs to be small,” she said. “It can be done safely outside with small groups, making sure that we give the others the space to stay safe and also importantly, to respect those homes that are choosing not to participate this year.”

During her briefing yesterday, Henry also noted she is concerned about essential workers in the province as the number of cases continues to spike.

“We’ve seen it in healthcare workers. I see it in my colleagues, I see it in teachers, in parents – the anxieties that we have about the effects that this is going to have on our community,” she said, when asked if there were concerns about teacher burnout and the impacts it could have on the education system.

“Whether you are a surgeon who is trying to catch up on people who have had their surgeries delayed, or whether you’re working in a long term care home, or whether you are somebody who is working in one of our food processing plants or in a grocery store with the essential services that keep our community going.”

“We are all feeling these stresses.”

Federal modelling shows that the national death toll could rise to between 10,285 and 10,400 by Nov. 8, and the number of cases could be between 251,800 and 262,000.

Tam says the average case numbers in Canada are above peak levels that were seen during the first wave – with Quebec and Ontario accounting for more than 75 per cent of cases. That said, British Columbia recorded its highest one day case count last Saturday when 317 cases were reported as part of 817 over the weekend.

“Right now, our most powerful tool remains social distancing,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.