“We must remember there is no treatment and no vaccine for COVID-19, which means the virus will be in our communities for a long time to come”

HEALTH Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Monday announced 36 new COVID-19 cases since Friday in British Columbia, for a total of 2,745 cases.

There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 168 deaths in the province.

They said: “Today, we are providing case updates for three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from June 12 to June 13, we had 14 new cases. In the second reporting period from June 13 to June 14, we had 16 cases. In the last 24 hours, we have had a further six new cases.”

There are 182 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,395 people who tested positive have recovered.

Of the total COVID-19 cases, 13 individuals are hospitalized, four 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 934 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,420 in the Fraser Health region, 130 in the Island Health region, 196 in the Interior Health region and 65 in the Northern Health region.

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at South Granville Park Lodge has been declared over. In total, four long-term care or assisted-living facilities continue to have active outbreaks.

There have been no new community outbreaks and the outbreak associated with the Kearl Lake industrial site in Alberta has also been declared over. Public health teams continue to provide support for the five ongoing community outbreaks.

Dix and Henry added: “We ask British Columbians to not lose sight of the immense effort that we have all put into staying safe and remember that many people have experienced severe illness, and many families have lost loved ones. We must remember there is no treatment and no vaccine for COVID-19, which means the virus will be in our communities for a long time to come.

“Our objective is to keep COVID-19 low and slow. To do this, we are opening what is safe to open and keeping closed what is more harmful. We are slowly easing restrictions that are safe to lessen and are keeping measures in place to contain further spread.

“We have learned where COVID-19 spreads and we don’t have to look far to see that when left unchecked, a small cluster can quickly surge into multiple super-spreading events. This is a seed we do not want to grow.

“The tools we have are: rapid testing for anyone with symptoms, so we can quickly contain every new case and stop outbreaks; giving everyone the space to stay safe, whether at home, at work or with friends; and always following the rules for safe social interactions.

“We can see a small number of friends, we can travel within B.C., and we can protect our communities. To do this, we must continue to stand together and support each other as we move forward.”