There are now 15,800 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 299 new cases Tuesday.
Four of the cases are epi-linked.
Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson reports since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,993 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 9,234 in the Fraser Health region, 270 in the Island Health region, 788 in the Interior Health region, and 425 in the Northern Health region.
Additionally, there have been 90 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. of people who reside outside of Canada since the beginning of the pandemic.
There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Belvedere Care Centre. In total, 27 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
There has been one new community outbreak at Capella Dance Academy. There continue to be exposure events around the province.
There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 272 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 92 individuals are hospitalized, 22 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 6,448 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 3,017 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 6,888 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 12,430 people who tested positive 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.
“Our goal for the COVID-19 pandemic is to continue to minimize severe illness, death and social disruption in our communities. The more we learn about the virus, the better we are able to manage all three of these important objectives," said Gustafson.
“As part of this, we all need to understand the risks in our local communities and adjust our activities if that risk increases.
“Today, much of the recent transmission is connected to social gatherings. That is why it is so important to keep our groups small.
“This is particularly important in the Fraser Health region where public health teams are asking everyone to avoid all social gatherings in your home right now – even those that are within the restrictions of the provincial health officer order.
“Keeping our communities well means keeping them safe. It is about ensuring we have capacity within our health-care system, protecting those who are most vulnerable and continuing what's important to our well-being in safe, responsible ways.”
