There are now 12,057 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 203 new cases Wednedsay.
Three of these new cases are epi-linked.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 4,215 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 6,517 in Fraser Health, 245 on Vancouver Island, 632 in Interior Health and 361 in Northern Health.
Additionally, there have been 88 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. of people who reside outside of Canada.
There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks at Three Links Care Centre, Fort Langley Seniors Community and Baillie House. The outbreaks at Harrison West at Elim Village and White Rock Seniors Village have been declared over. In total, 18 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
There has been one new outbreak at École de l’Anse-au-sable school in Kelowna with three members of the school community confirmed positive for COVID-19. Public health teams have directed a further approximately 160 members of the school community to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. Interior Health will provide ongoing updates as the investigation continues.
There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 256 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 70 individuals are hospitalized, 21 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 4,294 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 1,766 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 9,993 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
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.
"Many of the new cases and recent community clusters of COVID-19 are directly connected to weddings, funerals and celebrations of life – times when we traditionally gather with family and friends," said Henry.
“With COVID-19 still in our communities, we have seen that even small gatherings are risky right now. Inside or outside, large space or small, the fewer the faces the better.
“A wedding is meant to be a time of celebration, yet weddings and other important life occasions are a significant source of community transmission; transmission that has spread to health-care facilities, workplaces and schools.
“Now is the time to keep these celebrations small and to plan for bigger family gatherings at a time when we are no longer putting our seniors, elders and others at risk.”
