SURREY – Health officials in B.C.’s Fraser Valley are urging people not to hold private parties this Halloween weekend in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, chief medical health officer for Fraser Health, says it’s fine to take children trick-or-treating in a safe way or get together in a restaurant, but people should refrain from gathering in homes.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has also said private gatherings in the Lower Mainland are the main driver of the rising COVID-19 case count in B.C.
Brodkin says many of the infections can be linked to clusters in households or at social gatherings, such as weddings, which can in turn fuel the spread of the illness in workplaces, schools and health care facilities.
Fraser Health has reported 7,529 cases since the start of the pandemic with most of the infections in people aged 20 to 29.
Brodkin says the region seems to be a hot spot for COVID-19 because it has the highest density of multi-generational people living in close proximity to each other, making it easier for the virus to circulate.
She says health officials don’t want to return to the restrictions imposed at the start of the pandemic, which saw many venues close, but action will be taken depending on the rise in case numbers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first publishedOct. 27, 2020.
