PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Deputy Minister of Health Stephen Brown on Wednesday announced 91 new cases of COVID-19, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 8,395 cases in British Columbia.

Fortunately, for the second day in a row, there were no new deaths; the total number of deaths remains at 227 in the province.

There are 1,376 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,368 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 6,769 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 62 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 18 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 3,016 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,302 in the Fraser Health region, 203 in the Island Health region, 515 in the Interior Health region, 273 in the Northern Health region and 86 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks, and outbreaks at Bear Creek Villa independent-living facility and Normanna long-term care facility have been declared over. In total, nine long-term care or assisted-living facilities and five acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There have been no new community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events. The outbreak at the Loblaws warehouse has been declared over.

Public alerts and school notifications 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 to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.

Henry and Brown added: “New cases and clusters of COVID-19 remain higher than where we would like them to be.

“The impact of this means that thousands of people in B.C. are now under active public health monitoring and care, with many forced to deal with the stress and anxiety that comes with having to self-isolate away from work, friends and family.

“Each of us has the ability to make a difference by continuing to follow the COVID-19 safety basics: washing our hands frequently, giving the space to stay safe and using a mask when that is difficult, limiting our social interactions and always staying home when ill.

“By using the layers of protection, we reduce our personal risks and the number of new cases, and we make our communities safer.

“We want to ensure we are in the best position possible to protect our communities and keep as much as is safe open and operating during the pandemic. To do this, we need everyone to do their part today to help push our curve back down tomorrow.”

Assisted living, long-term care homes and seniors’ rental buildings with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks are as follows:

Vancouver Coastal Health

OPAL by Element assisted-living facility

Point Grey Private Hospital long-term care facility

Yaletown House long-term care facility

Fraser Health

Cherington Place long-term care facility

Evergreen Hamlets long-term care facility

Kin Village assisted-living facility

Milieu Children and Family Services Society community-living facility

New Vista Care Home long-term care facility

Rideau Retirement Centre independent-living facility