There are now 12,554 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 223 new cases Friday.
Five of these new cases are epi-linked.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 4,319 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 6,864 in Fraser Health, 250 on Vancouver Island, 662 in Interior Health and 371 in Northern Health.
Additionally, there have been 88 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. of people who reside outside of Canada.
There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks at Laurel Place and Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge. The outbreaks at PICS Assisted Living, Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre, Chartwell Carrington House Retirement Residence and Thornebridge Gardens Retirement Residence have been declared over. In total, 16 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
There have been two new community outbreaks at Coast Spas Manufacturing and Pace Processing. There also continue to be exposure events around the province.
There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 256 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 75 individuals are hospitalized, 24 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 4,637 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 2,009 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 10,247 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
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.
“In recent days, we have seen a number of new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the community and in long-term care facilities. Contact-tracing teams throughout our province are working around the clock to stop further spread, but it requires all of us to do our part to be successful in these efforts," said Henry.
“This is our opportunity and the time to take a step back from our social interactions and keep our groups small this weekend. In doing this, we show our appreciation and support for the important work of contact tracers.
“It is also the time to show kindness to those around us. None of us know the stories and experiences of those around us, so let’s make this weekend one of compassion and care for everyone.”
