ADRIAN Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, on Wednesday announced 41 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for a total of 3,562 cases in British Columbia. This includes a data correction from Tuesday.
Fortunately, there were no new COVID-19-related deaths, and the total number of deaths remains at 194.
There are 259 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,109 people who tested positive have recovered.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, six individuals are hospitalized, two 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 1,071 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,846 in the Fraser Health region, 143 in the Island Health region, 356 in the Interior Health region, 86 in the Northern Health region and 60 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at St. Paul’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit has now been declared over. In total, one long-term care facility and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.
There are no new community outbreaks. Currently, there are 20 cases on Haida Gwaii and 31 cases connected to Fraser Valley Packers Inc. Public health teams continue to support these active outbreaks. Of note, there are no health concerns related to the consumption of fruit from Fraser Valley Packers Inc. However, people are reminded to always wash fruit and vegetables before eating them.
There continues to be additional community exposure events throughout the province. An alert has been issued for Liquid Zoo in Kelowna. Anyone who may have been at the night club from July 15 to 18 is asked to monitor themselves closely, limit their contact with others and contact 811 to get tested, if symptoms develop.
A full listing of community exposure events related to flights and others within each health authority is available through the BC Centre for Disease Control, as well as on health authority websites.
Dix and Henry added: “To play safe and stay safe this weekend, and protect all of our communities from COVID-19, we all need to use the layers of protection we have available and keep your groups small.
“Staying a safe distance from others is the best way to slow the spread of the virus. If you are in a crowded area, outside or inside, and you can’t maintain a safe physical distance, wearing a mask is a further protective layer.
“We also need to remember to wash our hands regularly, clean surfaces more often, follow one-way pathways and always, without exception, stay home if you are at all feeling ill.
“The actions you take make a difference and will help all of us to stay safe this summer. Let’s bend our curve back down and keep our province strong.