“If you are in doubt about whether to travel or see someone, do not do it. If you can adjust your usual routine to see fewer people, then now is the time”
DR. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Monday announced 998 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday in B.C., and this brings the total number of cases to 18,714 in British Columbia.
From November 7 to 8, there were 536 new cases. In the last 24 hours, there were 462 new cases.
Sadly, there were five new COVID-19-related deaths, and the total number of deaths now stands at 281 in the province.
There are 4,891 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Currently, 133 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 43 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Currently, 9,179 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 13,425 people who tested positive have recovered.
There have been 210 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 737 in the Fraser Health region, 12 in the Island Health region, 28 in the Interior Health region, 11 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks at Harrison Pointe and Normanna. The outbreaks at Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge, at PICs and at The Gateway Assisted Living for Seniors have been declared over. In total, 32 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and five acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
On Saturday, new regional provincial health officer (PHO) orders were put in place in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions in response to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and health-care outbreaks. The orders will be in place for the next two weeks until Monday, November 23 at noon.
Henry and Dix explained: “The purpose of the new orders is to break the chains of transmission connected to social gatherings occurring at a rapid rate in this part of the province.
“We have seen the virus spread in people’s homes, in a number of workplaces and with indoor group physical activities. This is increasing the risk across the entire province and we need to do all we can to stop this – now.
“This latest action in our COVID-19 response is about putting a short-term pause on non-essential activities and travel to ensure our essential activities – like school and work – can safely continue.
“For those regions included in the PHO orders, we ask that you prioritize ‘critical’ over ‘optional’ for the next two weeks. As we have done before, socialize virtually, plan parties and celebrations when it is safe to get together and support your neighbours at a distance.
“If you are in doubt about whether to travel or see someone, do not do it. If you can adjust your usual routine to see fewer people, then now is the time.
“We ask every business in the province to revisit its COVID-19 safety plans to ensure you are doing all you can to protect your employees and customers.
“Businesses operating within the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health authority regions must now ensure all employees conduct daily health symptom checks to ensure everyone coming into your workplace is healthy. For those locations providing indoor group physical activities, new guidance and safety requirements are under development to help ensure you can continue to operate safely.
“We recognize taking a step back now has an impact on our mental, emotional and financial well-being. Especially with Remembrance Day ahead, let’s all look to our veterans who have shown us how important it is to persevere when there seems to be more darkness than light.”
