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May 8, 2021 1:41 AM -

B.C. doctors defend province's approach to releasing COVID-19 data

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry during a news conference in Victoria. (B.C. Government)

British Columbia’s top two doctors are defending the province's approach to releasing data on COVID-19 but say they'll provide more information that may be helpful for the public.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and her deputy, Dr. Réka Gustafson, say they wouldn't characterize data first released to the Vancouver Sun by someone at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control as "leaked" because it would have been available in some form later anyway.

Documents from the centre show higher rates of COVID-19 in some neighbourhoods of Surrey, for example, but Henry says the province has said the city, with a greater number of essential workers, has more cases.

Henry says the province has prioritized vaccination for workers in high-risk jobs, but there's also been an effort not to publicize areas with higher transmission of the virus to avoid stigma and racism.

However, she says more detailed information about case counts in neighbourhoods will be provided in the coming weeks.

Gustafson says information about outbreaks is being used by local public health officials to take action and data are analyzed before being released so there wasn't an effort to keep anything from the public.

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