PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Deputy Minister of Health Stephen Brown on Friday announced 223 new COVID-19 cases, including five epi-linked cases. The total number of cases is now 12,554 in British Columbia.

Fortunately, for the second day in a row there was no new COVID-19-related death, and the total remains at 256 deaths in the province.

There are 2,009 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 4,637 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 10,247 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 75 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 24 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 4,319 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 6,864 in the Fraser Health region, 250 in the Island Health region, 662 in the Interior Health region, 371 in the Northern Health region and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks at Laurel Place and Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge. The outbreaks at PICS Assisted Living, Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre, Chartwell Carrington House Retirement Residence and Thornebridge Gardens Retirement Residence have been declared over. In total, 16 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There have been two new community outbreaks at Coast Spas Manufacturing and Pace Processing. There also 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: “In recent days, we have seen a number of new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the community and in long-term care facilities. Contact-tracing teams throughout our province are working around the clock to stop further spread, but it requires all of us to do our part to be successful in these efforts.

“This is our opportunity and the time to take a step back from our social interactions and keep our groups small this weekend. In doing this, we show our appreciation and support for the important work of contact tracers.

“It is also the time to show kindness to those around us. None of us know the stories and experiences of those around us, so let’s make this weekend one of compassion and care for everyone.”