HEALTH Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Wednesday announced 62 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including two epi-linked case since they reported on Tuesday, for a total of 5,304 cases in British Columbia.

There were no new deaths. The total number of deaths remains at 203 in the province.

There are 896 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 2,730 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 4,199 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 21 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, seven 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 1,699 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,795 in the Fraser Health region, 170 in the Island Health region, 429 in the Interior Health region, 133 in the Northern Health region and 78 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, 10 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There are no new community outbreaks. However, there continues to be community exposure events at other locations and on flights into and out of the province.

Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website, as well as on health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions to take – whether you need to self-isolate, or monitor for symptoms.

When health regions issue community exposure alerts, the alerts are specific to the location, date and time of potential exposure. If you or your family may have been exposed, follow the public health advisory. Otherwise, no action is required.

Dix and Henry added: “In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is understandable that many people have had increased anxiety and concern for the well-being of their families and themselves.

“For parents in particular, there is the added challenge of navigating a new approach to in-class learning that includes a number of additional public health protocols and precautions.

“Today, the Ministry of Education provided the latest updates on back-to-school plans. These plans are the outcome of many minds coming together in every school district to take the public health guidelines that have been developed and apply them to meet the specific needs of each school district.

“This has not been an easy task. We commend the many people who have put the time and effort into ensuring the best approach possible for our students, teachers and staff.

“School will be new for everyone this year – just as how we spend time with friends and how we operate our businesses has required a different way of doing things than we have ever done before.

“With COVID-19 in our communities for many months to come, new routines will be needed that can sustain families for the entire school year.

“As we look to the year ahead, we know that British Columbians will continue to demonstrate unparalleled resiliency and determination that will help see all of us through this pandemic.

“Working together, we will learn and adapt our approach as we go, as we focus our efforts on prevention, detection and rapid response. This is what will keep us strong and help protect all of us.”