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Horgan’s comments echoed those earlier in the day from the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

“Realistically we are going to be in some form of having to monitor and prevent transmission of this virus until we have a vaccine, or until enough of the population is immune to it, but we know that’s a very high number.” Henry said at herdaily media briefing. A vaccine is not expected for at least a year.

Henry said B.C. was in its first wave of the pandemic, which is responsible for more than 41,000 deaths around the world.

She said that once the first wave passed, over the next three weeks, health officials would have to watch for the next wave.

“It’s less likely we are going to be back to full normal life until at least the summer, and then we need to prepare for the potential of a second wave in the fall,” Henry said.

Dix said the current restrictions would “absolutely” be in place until the end of April. A public health emergency is also in place in B.C.

“What it looks like in May, or June or July is harder to say and a lot depends on whether people are committed to responding with a 100 per cent effort to bend the curve,” he said. “I think we are in to this for a long time.”

Henry said 43 additional cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in B.C. in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,013. Of those, 476 were in Vancouver Coastal Health, 348 in Fraser Health, 67 on Vancouver Island, 107 in Interior Health and 15 in Northern Health.