Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun urged the public to wash their hands and heed the advice of B.C.’s health officials, while praising the province’s efforts to address the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Speaking at the end of a council meeting, Braun said B.C. had been “ahead of the wave,” in testing for COVID-19. Testing rates in the province are among the highest in the world.
“Please listen and take seriously the information that is being provided by our health minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, who is B.C.’s chief medical officer,” Braun said Monday. “We are very fortunate that Dr. Henry is in this province.”
“I commend both of them to you for being open and transparent regarding the information that is being shared.”
Braun recited Henry’s declaration that people should wash their hands as if they had just touched jalapeno peppers and planned to put in their contacts.
Although 14 cases have been found in the Fraser Health region, which stretches from White Rock to Hope, officials continue to not disclose in which cities those patients reside.
Henry noted Tuesday that COVID-19 is usually spread through close contact with someone carrying the virus. Officials have been trying to trace back each case, but in recent days have found more patients for whom it is not yet clear how they contracted the illness.
Declaring what community cases are found in could cause residents to either over- or under-estimate their risk of contracting COVID-19, she said Tuesday.
“Sometimes that leads to people having fears that are not grounded in truth and reality.”
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