There are now 16,135 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 335 new cases Wednesday.
Seven of the cases are epi-linked.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports since the start of the pandemic, there have been 5,097 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 9,439 in the Fraser Health region, 274 in the Island Health region, 803 in the Interior Health region, and 432 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 at Hawthorne Seniors Care Community, White Rock Senior Village and Village at Mill Creek. The outbreak at Peace Portal Seniors Village has been declared over. In total, 29 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
There has been one new community outbreak at La Casa resort in West Kelowna. The outbreak at Tim Horton’s in Merritt has been declared over.
There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 273 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 92 individuals are hospitalized, 25 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 7,133 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 3,120 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 12,659 people who tested positive 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.
“While our experiences with COVID-19 may be unique, when it comes to how our province fares through this pandemic, we are all connected," said Henry.
“Here in B.C., we have one COVID-19 curve because the risks are everywhere and no community or person is immune. The virus doesn’t recognize community boundaries or regional borders.
“As we have seen before, a small cluster in one region can quickly become an outbreak in another. That is why province-wide orders are in place throughout B.C. and why we all need to use our layers of protection – all the time.
“When transmission increases in one area, we focus our public health efforts to contain further spread and ask everyone to step up their own efforts and preventive actions at the same time.
“Our layers of protection are how we protect each other and, importantly, work best when used together. Let’s remember to wash our hands frequently and wear a mask when inside close or public spaces, and let’s also keep our groups small inside and outside our homes.
“Doing these things together is what keeps our communities strong and keeps everyone safe. These actions are what ensures capacity within our health-care system, protect those who are most vulnerable and allows our well-being to continue.”
