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October 22, 2020 - 5:09 PM
The record of 274 new COVID-19 cases set today are mostly the fault of events like weddings getting out of hand.
That’s more concerning to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry than the outbreak at the École de l'Anse-au-sable in Kelowna which has recorded five cases since Sunday.
“There may be weddings with several different parts to it where everybody is doing the right thing in one area,” Dr. Henry said today, Oct. 22. “Then they go back to the house and mix together.”
Dr. Henry suggested that tougher regulations and enforcement may be put in place to try to control these kind of events.
READ MORE: 5 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 at Kelowna school
There are organizers who are finding it hard to control the number of people who show up to a wedding that may be planned for 35 or 40. Some of the guests then bring others.
Or people will attend a number of small gatherings associated with the wedding which leads not only to the spread of the virus but can make it hard to trace contacts.
About 70 per cent of the 203 cases of COVID-19 announced on Wednesday were linked to weddings, funerals and gender reveal parties in the Fraser Health region, according to CEO Dr. Victoria Lee. Many of those become multi-day events with many having up to 50 people.
Dr. Henry encouraged people to not have buffets but to have individual servings and suggested civil services now and larger celebrations when the pandemic is over.
She also encouraged everyone to keep their core groups small, preferably no more than six people, and not to have larger gatherings or mix with other people.
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