Premier John Horgan needs to be honest with British Columbians when it comes to how COVID-19 and its variant strains are spreading through the province according to the BC Liberals.
They're calling for greater transparency and more frequent reporting of COVID-19 data.
"People are scared for their families, anxious about their jobs and worried about the future," said Shirley Bond, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition. "They're looking for government to provide leadership, to tell them why decisions are being made and why other actions are not being taken. The Premier seems to think trusting British Columbians with the right information is inappropriate - he's wrong. We need to know the real picture of how widespread the variants of concern are here in B.C. so we can understand what needs to be done to fight the virus together."
Bond and BC Liberal Health Critic Renee Merrifield sent a letter to Premier Horgan detailing specific information and actions the government should take to build trust with British Columbians. Included in the letter are requests for detailed daily reporting of all active cases, including variant strains detected in schools that includes a breakdown of staff and students affected; the most recent data available on PCR screening for variant cases, including by age, location, and date of screening; and better reporting and collection of exposure settings data, hospitalization demographic data and race-based data, among other requests.
"British Columbians want to be involved and they want to do the right thing, but the government's continued lack of honesty is leaving people more confused," said Merrifield. "The government's bumbling along, keeping data from British Columbians, constantly shifting vaccine priorities and then swerving in a new direction has to stop. Being honest and transparent about data is the only way forward - it's a step the government needs to take immediately, for the benefit of all British Columbians."