Nick Wells This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19. A COVID-19 modelling group is offering a glimmer of optimism as British Columbia deals with variants of the virus and other complications of the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP April 30, 2021 - 4:17 PM VANCOUVER - Efforts by British Columbia health officials and residents are managing to suppress infections that have been driven by COVID-19 variants, a group of modelling experts says. The group of researchers from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences says projections show a 30 to 40 per cent decline in transmission rates since March.