New Westminster Record: Protect Our Province masking message on New West billboard takes aim at COVID
Feb 8, 2024
“Stop rolling the dice: Why a public billboard ad in New Westminster warning about Long Covid?"
New Westminster Record: Opinion: 'Disruptive and deadly' — why public health leaders must act now
Sept 13, 2023
If provincial authorities don’t catch up to the best practice preventative measures being taken elsewhere, we are on track for a disruptive and deadly repeat of last fall.
In August of 2022, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach stated: “It is incompatible with my job as health minister that children are falling ill in large numbers. Infecting an entire generation is irresponsible.”
CTV News: Dozens sign open letter urging ‘safe return to school’ amid respiratory illness concerns
Aug 8, 2023
“With students returning to B.C. classrooms in four weeks, an open letter to the province is outlining five things the signatories say must be addressed to ensure ‘a safe return to school.'”
Read Angela Jung’s article in CTV News about PoP BC’s open letter to the Ministers of Health and Education on what’s needed to keep kids safe in school this fall.
The Tyee: Why BC Needs to Bring Back Mask Protections
Apr 20, 2023
The removal of mask protections in health-care settings sends the message that the health and well-being of British Columbians is not a priority for the province. The removal of these measures also betrays health-care workers, because they too will be infected and be unable to care for their patients during recovery.
If you are tired of delayed and cancelled health-care services, you should brace yourselves, because removing safety protections in hospitals will only make health-care service delays worse.
Burnaby Now: COVID-19 still poses long-term health threat, group warns
Apr 5, 2023
Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, Protect Our Province BC is promoting COVID Awareness Week along with allied COVID-19 safety groups.
The five-day event, which runs from April 3 to April 7, is an attempt to inform Canadians of the harm that the virus can cause to their health and well-being, according a release from Protect Our Province.
CBC: COVID wastewater uptick in B.C. no cause for alarm, says provincial health officer
Mar 30, 2023
As data suggests cases of COVID-19 are rising in British Columbia, the province's top doctor says the situation is under control, even as some critics are calling on the province to do more.
According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), wastewater testing shows a steady increase in viral load across the province in March
The Early Edition with Stephen Quinn: Raising awareness about long COVID
Mar 29, 2023
Protect Our Province will be holding an event this week called "Long COVID: It Could Happen to You". We find out more from Dr. Lyne Filiatrault.
The Tyee: Spring COVID Boosters Are Recommended, But Are They Coming?
Mar 8, 2023
Spring booster vaccines could soon be coming for adults at high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 in British Columbia, but the province hasn’t yet said when.
On Friday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization advised that high-risk adults should receive a spring booster vaccine dose at least six months after their most recent shot or COVID-19 infection.
The Peak: Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi speaks on COVID-19, public health, and preventive care
Feb 21, 2023
“Scientifically and objectively, we’re really still in the midst of this pandemic,” said Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi in conversation with Protect our Province BC. “Emotionally, much of the population — I think to no fault of their own — is in a different place.” On February 3, the grassroots organization hosted an online seminar with Gandhi to discuss the current state of the pandemic and BC’s pandemic response.
Gandhi, who specializes in pediatric heart and lung surgery, recently left the BC Children’s Hospital and joined the BC Greens as their deputy leader. In an interview with The Tyee, he cited his reasons for leaving the medical field as a toxic work environment and “the health authority’s positive narrative,” as a barrier to providing patients with proper care. He has been a vocal critic of BC’s current healthcare policies.
The Province: Dr. Lyne Filiatrault: It’s time to reinstate a mask mandate in B.C. schools
Jan 12, 2023
Like all other Canadian provinces, B.C. is being hit by a perfect storm of respiratory viruses that heavily impacted schools and is overwhelming children’s hospitals and pediatric ICUs.
For many families this experience has been traumatic. For some it has been devastating. Beyond belatedly opening walk-in influenza vaccination clinics, why is B.C. public health doing nothing more to lessen the impact of respiratory viruses on children, educators and their families? An obvious first place to start would be schools.
The Peak: Protect Our Province BC calls for immediate unrestricted access to Paxlovid
Jan 11, 2023
With the onset of the winter season, and a surging triple-demic of respiratory illnesses, the organization Protect Our Province BC released an open letter addressed to the provincial leaders. The letter calls for the immediate relaxation of BC’s restrictive eligibility policies, and increase in access to Paxlovid, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.
The Tyee: ‘Kraken’ Rising. Is BC Doing Enough?
Jan 9, 2023
British Columbia is reactivating emergency operations centres at 20 hospitals to prepare for even more hospital demand due to record and sustained case levels of COVID-19, influenza and RSV.
There are more than 10,000 patients currently in hospital across B.C., with 358 having tested positive for COVID-19 and 132 with RSV, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Friday.
But as a new subvariant appears in B.C., the province has said it won’t reintroduce public health measures, like an indoor mask mandate or shortening the waiting period between vaccine boosters, to reduce transmission and serious illness.
The Vancouver Sun: Dr. Lyne Filiatrault: B.C. should have been prepared to protect kids
Dec 15, 2022
Imagine being provided with exam questions ahead of time, a fair amount of time to study, and then still failing the exam.
That is what has happened this fall in B.C. But it wasn’t an exam. It was, and is, a real life-and-death scenario.
In May, B.C. public health leaders were given advance warning from Australia of an early, intense influenza A season with very high case counts, particularly among children.
Knowing what was coming, B.C. should have been prepared, and children should have been protected. They were not.
BIV: Retired ER doc: B.C. pandemic report 'embodies everything that was wrong'
Dec 9, 2022
Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, of the grassroots Protect Our Province BC coalition of public health experts, wonders what the NDP government was really trying to achieve with the Dec. 2-released report.
“This is not independent. This is scope creep,” Filiatrault said in an interview. “They went outside of assessing the government response, they assessed the pandemic response, based on indicators that, in my mind, are not the correct indicator, and with useless data, which is the data that B.C. has based on under-testing, under-reporting.”
The Tyee: ‘Back to Normal’ Is Bringing a COVID Crisis for Children
Nov 21, 2022
Just weeks after schools reopened this fall, the National Post published an opinion piece titled “Let the old normal reign in schools without the threat of COVID restrictions.”
Two of the four authors of the Sept. 23 piece, Dr. Jennifer Grant and Dr. Martha Fulford, are associated with the Urgency of Normal, a movement pushing to end all pandemic protections for children. The group finds an eager audience in those who have largely been spared the worst of the pandemic.
Times Colonist: Don't want long COVID? Don't get COVID, says doctor on lingering symptoms of virus
May 25, 2022
Demand for long-COVID treatment is growing with each wave of the pandemic and the five clinics created in B.C. so far are likely not enough, says a retired Vancouver ER physician who hosted a recent briefing on the impact of long COVID.
“We are really going to have a pandemic after the pandemic, because the number of people affected by long COVID is growing with every single wave and is becoming so prevalent that we cannot ignore it,” said Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, who argues more long-COVID clinics are needed to meet current and future demand.
The Tyee: Hospitals Shouldn’t Be a Place to Get COVID
May 11, 2022
Medical students live and breathe this mantra during their training: “first do no harm.” At their graduation, the Hippocratic Oath is often read aloud. Coming across the following story, then, was not only jarring, but hit at the core of what physicians hold sacred.
~ Analysis by Dr. Hardie & Dr. Filiatrault.
The Surrey Now-Leader: Letter: Relaxing of COVID measures ‘reckless,’ says doctors group
“Given the benefits of the mask mandate for thousands of marginalised people and the minimal impact on those being asked to wear one, the balance at this time favours continuing the mask mandate.” – Kasari Govender
Jan 22, 2022
From Wednesday to Friday (January 19 to 21) of this week, there was one COVID-19 death every two hours in B.C.
Jan 4, 2022
VICTORIA — A growing number of health-care experts are demanding the province upgrade to using N95 masks in all health-care settings and are encouraging members of the public to do the same.
Jan 3, 2022
On Monday, Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, a retired emergency physician who spent years at Vancouver General Hospital, and is part of the group, told CTV News the province has been entirely reactive in its policies since the first wave of the pandemic, and that needs to change because of Omicron’s infectiousness.
Dec 28, 2021
British Columbia planning ‘enhanced safety measures’ for in-person return to K to 12, with Jennifer Heighton - Grade 4+5 Teacher in Burnaby
Dec 16, 2021
Physicians say recent remarks about rapid antigen tests from B.C.’s provincial health officer are misleading, inconsistent and completely inaccurate.
Dec 10, 2021
Physicians say recent remarks about rapid antigen tests from B.C.’s provincial health officer are misleading, inconsistent and completely inaccurate.
Dec 15, 2021
Physicians say recent remarks about rapid antigen tests from B.C.’s provincial health officer are misleading, inconsistent and completely inaccurate.
Dec 17, 2021
Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, Retired Emergency Physician & Member of Protect Our Province BC joins us and urges the province to move quicker on giving out booster shots, a the Omicron variant spreads
Dec 13, 2021
As @jphballard reports, some health experts say it's an added layer of protection, especially around the holidays.
Dec 2, 2021
An independent collective of doctors and researchers are calling on British Columbia to ramp up measures to avert yet another variant-driven pandemic wave now that the Omicron variant has reached B.C.
While the province is focusing on the importance of vaccination, the Protect Our Province BC group says more is needed to prevent Omicron — which has hallmark characteristics of being a more transmissible and severe strain — from overwhelming B.C.’s health-care system like Delta did in the fall.
Dec 1, 2021
A respected doctor and professor of epidemiology says the B.C. government’s decision to discourage post-secondary institutions from issuing exposure notifications is “extremely paternalistic” and unacceptable.
Dec 2, 2021
VANCOUVER - With Alberta announcing adults over age 60 can start booking a COVID-19 booster shot – and Ontario expected to announce a similar move for those over 50 on Thursday – pressure is mounting on B.C. health officials to do the same as concerns over the Omicron variant continue to grow.
Dec 1, 2021
Dr. David Forrest, Nanaimo Critical Care Physician tells CHEK about about healthcare worker overwhelm.
Nov 3, 2021
A group of doctors and health experts that don’t agree with the province’s handling of the pandemic are calling for better use of the expiring supply of B.C.’s rapid antigen tests, in addition to the current vaccine mandates.
In their third news conference on Wednesday (Nov. 3), Protect our Province B.C. said that only 10 per cent of the 3,147,706 rapid antigen tests B.C. received from the federal government have been used so far in the pandemic.
Oct 20, 2021
B.C. doctor says the province should focus on improving air flow in buildings, continue strong mask mandates.
Oct 20, 2021
VANCOUVER - A respected emergency doctor credited with a pivotal role in B.C.’s avoidance of the SARS epidemic is speaking up, urging health officials to adopt a grassroots approach to health care as the province struggles in the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oct 19, 2021
It’s been 20 months since the World Health Organization first stated that SARS-CoV-2, which causes the illness we all know as COVID-19, was a pandemic. Delta, the newest and most dangerous variant to date, is wreaking havoc on our daily lives, health-care delivery and the economy. It is causing a huge emotional toll on all of us.
Oct 19, 2021
A new organization — Protect Our Province B.C. — is going to start hosting its own regular COVID-19 briefings because of what its members say is a "worrisome lack of science-informed pandemic response" in British Columbia. The group will stream their first live briefing on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 12 p.m. PT.
Oct 18, 2021
Protect our Province BC says the government should implement several measures to try and reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, including effective ventilation and air purification, expanded use of high-quality masks, easy-to-access rapid testing, improved contact tracing, and better exposure notifications.