There are now 40,797 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 737 new cases Friday.
Six of the new cases are epi-linked.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there have been 119 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 469 in the Fraser Health region, eight in the Island Health region, 99 in the Interior Health region, 41 in the Northern Health region and one new case from someone who resides outside of Canada.
There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks at Agassiz Seniors Community, Hilton Villa Seniors Community and St. Michael’s Centre. The outbreaks at Veterans Memorial Lodge, Amica White Rock and Burnaby Hospital are over.
There has also been one new community outbreak at Regent Christian Academy.
There have been 11 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 598 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 342 individuals are hospitalized, 87 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. There are 12,008 people under active public health monitoring for the virus.
There are 9,589 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. and 29,598 people have recovered from the virus.
Public alerts and notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities’ websites.
Risk remains high
“COVID-19 continues to circulate in our communities and the risk to all of us remains high. This is why it is so important to follow the public health orders and to use our layers of protection until the vaccine is available for all of us," said Henry.
“This weekend, take a step back from the usual holiday rush. Take the time to get outside and enjoy a quieter weekend with those in your household. Show your loved ones you care by staying local and staying away right now.
“We want to ensure we are moving into this stage of our COVID-19 response in the best position possible, which means working together to make sure we don’t fall back as we move forward with our immunization program.
“We will get through this storm by supporting each other in our shared efforts. Let’s break the chain of transmission in our province and do our part to keep our communities, neighbours, friends and loved ones safe.”
