There are now 15,501 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 1,120 new cases Monday.
There were 352 new cases from Friday to Saturday, 389 from Saturday to Sunday, and 379 from Sunday to Monday.
Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson reports that there have been 234 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 830 in Fraser Health, 9 on Vancouver Island, 36 in Interior Health and 10 in Northern Health.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,898 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 9,049 in the Fraser Health region, 265 in the Island Health region, 777 in the Interior Health region, and 422 in the Northern Health region.
Additionally, there have been 90 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. of people who reside outside of Canada since the beginning of the pandemic.
There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, 26 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
There have been no new community outbreaks. There also continue to be exposure events around the province.
There have been six new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 269 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 90 individuals are hospitalized, 19 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 6,448 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 2,945 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website, as well as on health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions to take – whether you need to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.
“Testing to identify new cases, contact tracing to contain further transmission and using our layers of protection are the cornerstones of our response and the tools we will continue to use as we navigate this pandemic," said Gustafson.
“Our goal is to continue to minimize severe illness and death, balanced with keeping as much as possible open and active in our communities. But to achieve this careful balance, we all need to do our part.
“We are going to see fluctuations and surges in some communities. And when we do, increased effort and stepped up focus will be applied, using all of the public health measures we have available to us.
“We have seen that the vast majority of people in B.C. are spending time with people outside of their household in safe and responsible ways. We thank the many businesses and organizations who are allowing that to take place with robust COVID-19 safety plans in place.
“As we look ahead, it is important for all of us to continue to pay attention to the COVID-19 transmission in our community. If there is transmission in your social circle or workplace, take the recommendations of public health contact tracing teams to heart and use all of the protective measures available to us.
“For our communities and for each of us, staying well means staying safe. It means always following the COVID-19 safety basics and when spending time with others, always taking precautions to keep ourselves and others safe.”
