A ban on social gatherings and events in British Columbia is being extended by another month to Jan. 8, 2021.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry made that announcement while announcing 2,020 new cases of the virus over the weekend, along with 35 additional deaths. Two of the weekend deaths – a man and woman in their late 70s – were in the Interior Health Authority which has now recorded six deaths from the virus.

“Both people died in hospital over the weekend and I would like to extend our condolences to their families and caregivers,” said IHA President and CEO Susan Brown. “It’s never easy to lose a member of our community and our thoughts are with their loved ones.”

“Limiting the spread of COVID-19 is our best way of protecting those who are vulnerable.”

There were an additional 203 new cases of COVID-19 across Interior Health, with 636 cases now active. Fourteen people are in hospital across IH, with four in ICU. There are now five cases at Mountainview Village in Kelowna, eight at McKinney Place in Oliver, and two cases at Village by the Station in Penticton.

With the restrictions extended, it will mean that British Columbians will only be able to socialize with people in their household over the holidays, with Dr. Henry noting that all events and gatherings are also banned until that date.

People are also still asked to avoid non-essential travel over the next month, while the current restrictions on adult sports and indoor fitness activities will continue as before. Some adult team sports and group fitness classes may be able to resume sooner once the province issues further guidelines, Henry said, noting extending the current rules for only two weeks won’t help.

“I’m asking people to reduce those social gatherings because we know that’s where the virus has been transmitted, so yes we can say no to the parties this year.  You must say no.  You can say no to travel,” she said. “This is what we need to do now to get us through this most critical period.  This will save lives and that’s what we need to focus on.”

“We can not, can not afford – when we’re this close to being able to protect people – to have a surge of cases that would again test and strain our health care system.”

Henry admits she also considered closing schools early for the winter break, but then ultimately decided not to do so.

“We discussed this with many stakeholders. We’ve made the decision that the downsides of it would be far greater than the safety and the protection of the education and the interaction that’s needed,” she added, noting that except for a few outbreaks – schools are still safe places.

Health Minister Adrian Dix acknowledged that this December will be a difficult holiday for many.

“That doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to celebrate,” he said. “We’ll just have to create new and special memories and build new traditions.”

Henry notes she has modified her orders to allow drive-through holiday light displays, drop-off gift events, and drive-in events up with up to 50 cars.

“We know that in some occasions, the drive through to look at lights where people do not get out of their cars, or to drop off,” she said. “At this time of the year, we’ve seen things like toy drives and others.”

“People must stay in their cars, and people attending these events should be only their household. And the exceptions must continue to maintain physical distancing, having entry and exit controls and ensuring that there is no congregation or congestion.”

Exceptions will also continue to be made for baptisms, funerals and weddings, with a limit of 10 people in attendance. In-person church services remain banned.

Case Counts Are Levelling but Remain High: Dr. Henry

Dr. Henry says the restrictions put in place earlier this month for the whole province are starting to work, but she says people cannot let up now are ‘we not yet through this storm’.

“As hard as this may be, lets remember that the sacrifices that we make now will help save lives,” she said. “We cannot afford to have a rebound and have an increase number of people being sick and ending up in hospital.”

Henry says the restrictions do not amount to a lockdown, but she’s acknowledges that it is a challenging time, not just in the province, but across the world.

During her Monday briefing, she said there is light at the end of the tunnel, with B.C. expected to get a ‘small amount’ of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next week. More details on the vaccine roll-out in the province are expected later this week.

Active cases in B.C. are now at 9,380, with 349 people in hospital, 77 people in intensive care. The death toll meanwhile has risen to 527 people.

There are now active outbreaks at 57 long-term care homes and eight in acute-care wards. Of the 2,020 cases this weekend, 647 were reported between Friday and Saturday, 726 cases between Saturday and Sunday, and 647 cases between Sunday and Monday.

Over the weekend, health officials declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a mink farm in the Fraser Valley. Henry says she is worried about the spread of the virus there, noting other jurisdictions has seen a mutation of the virus through minks.

Breeders in Denmark euthanized 15 million mink, farmers in Spain have culled almost 100,000 animals. In the U.S., nearly 10,000 mink across Utah died of COVID-19 as the virus spread rapidly across farms in the state.

A total of 27,287 people are considered to have recovered from COVID-19 in the province, about 71 per cent of the total.