This week's Pandemics in BC blog posts:
General: https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2026/02/13/2026-02-13-general/
BC: https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2026/02/13/2026-01-13-bc/

This week I had only one article about COVID-19 which I thought was interesting enough to include in the General blog. There *was* some interesting stuff for non-COVID pathogens, however.

#covid19bc #covid19 #covid #influenza #enterovirusA71 #hfmd #h5n1 #measles

2026-02-13 General – Pandemics in British Columbia

Advocacy opportunity 📣 BCCDC is currently assessing BC’s wastewater surveillance program. Do the survey here: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5bVmczsX2GeocuO

Wastewater testing is an “early warning system” to monitor community illness levels, including surges & new variants. Clinical data (like rising hospitalizations & deaths) are lagging indicators, making wastewater monitoring an essential tool for pandemic preparedness and risk assessments. Unfortunately, BC drastically downgraded their testing program in Sept 2025 - they stopped testing a third of the wastewater treatment plants, reduced sampling to only once a week (it was previously 3 times a week), and reduced sequencing to once every two weeks.

This is our chance to let BC know:

👉 wastewater testing is essential
👉 we don’t want any more cuts
👉 we want them to improve the program!

The survey only takes a few minutes & is anonymous. You can also learn more about BC’s wastewater program here: https://www.bccdc.ca/our-services/programs/wastewater-surveillance

#PublicHealth #Covid19BC #CovidIsNotOver #RSV #influenza #AvianInfluenza #measles #mpox

2026-01-30 General – Pandemics in British Columbia

Here’s the latest hazard index from the academic-led team at Covid-19 Resources Canada, based on federal wastewater data. This is the forecast from Jan 17th to 30th.

COVID rates are very high across Canada (~1 in every 95 people is infected), and high in BC (~1 in 180).

Stay safe: ventilate, vaccinate, educate, mitigate. And head to DoNoHarmBC.ca to join our renewed calls for BC to restore healthcare mask requirements, including closing loopholes and making respirators (like N95 masks) the default choice 😷

#CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne #COVID19BC #MaskUp

2026-01-23 General – Pandemics in British Columbia