There are now 5,304 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 62 new cases Wednesday.
Two of these new cases are epi-linked.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 1,699 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 2,795 in Fraser Health, 170 on Vancouver Island, 429 in Interior Health and 133 in Northern Health.
Additionally, there have been 78 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. 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 continue to be community exposure events at other locations and on flights into and out of the province.
There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 203 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 21 individuals are hospitalized, seven of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 2,730 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
There are 896 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 4,199 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
“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," said Henry.
“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.”
