PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Deputy Minister of Health Stephen Brown on Monday announced 499 new COVID-19 cases, including seven epi-linked cases, since last Friday. The total number of cases is now 11,687 in British Columbia.

Henry and Brown said: “Today, we are reporting on three 24-hour periods. From October 16 to 17, we had 172 new cases. From October 17 to 18, we had 153 new cases. In the last 24 hours, we have had a further 174 new cases.”

There were two new COVID-19-related deaths, and the total now stands at 253 deaths in the province.

There are 1,639 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 4,028 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 9,753 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 67 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 19 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,146 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 6,244 in the Fraser Health region, 243 in the Island Health region, 611 in the Interior Health region, 355 in the Northern Health region and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada. Please note the data correction in cases from outside of Canada.

There have been four new health-care facility outbreaks at Royal Arch Masonic Home, The Village in Langley, Rosemary Heights Senior Village and Zion Park Manor. The outbreaks at Banfield Pavilion and Yaletown House have been declared over. In total, 17 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There has been one new community outbreak at J&L Beef Limited. There continue to be exposure events around the province. Public alerts and notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities’ websites.

Henry and Brown added: “There continues to be transmission of COVID-19 in many parts of the province. While this is expected, we all need to remain vigilant to slow the spread as much as possible.

“We want to keep as many activities as possible open for all of us and keep our communities safe. This is the balance we are working hard to achieve, and following our safety basics allows us to do just that.

“We want to avoid a rapid increase in new cases that overwhelms the health-care system, making it more difficult to care for those who are unwell – whether from COVID-19 or another illness.

“The best way to do that is to take precautions and use our layers of protection, no matter where we may be.

“Finding that balance also means quickly finding new cases and clusters of COVID-19. Our contact tracing teams are working around the clock to track every new case that emerges.

“If you are contacted by public health, sharing information about where you have been and who you have seen will ensure one new case does not turn into 100.

“What you do makes a difference to your health, those of your loved ones, colleagues, friends and those you don’t know. Let’s slow the spread and break the chain of transmission.”