There are now 1013 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C., after health officials announced 43 new cases Tuesday.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 476 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 348 in Fraser Health, 67 on Vancouver Island, 107 in Interior Health and 15 in Northern Health.
Henry adds that a farm in Kelowna has been shut down due to an outbreak among temporary foreign farm workers.
There are now 19 long-term care homes that have had a patient or staff person test positive. Henry adds that extra precautions have been put into place for long-term care facilities to prevent further spread.
There are currently 128 people in acute care in hospital, and 61 are in intensive care. There have been five more deaths: four in Vancouver Coastal Health, and one in the Fraser Health region.
There have now been 24 deaths in the province.
507 people have fully recovered from COVID-19 in B.C.
Henry notes that more people are going into ICUs, and critical care teams have recognized that putting a ventilator on a COVID-19 patient earlier means that they often stay in hospital for less time and recover quickly. As such, she notes that the criteria for putting a patient on a ventilator has expanded to include more people.
“We are providing our essential workers who are parents a new resource to access child care for children five years old and younger. Starting today, they can register with child care resource referral centres to be assigned licensed child care spaces in their area," she says.
Henry notes that this means that most people, particularly who are young and have mild illness, are recovering from this virus at home. However, she underscored that we are not past the peak of the pandemic.
"We are still testing around the province," she says. "This is our critical time - these next two weeks."
"No one is immune to this virus, but everyone can make a difference."
Henry adds that anyone is older and at risk should, "please stay home, and we will support you."
Health Minister Adrian Dix added that paramedics are responding to more calls related to "influensa like" symptoms.
DIx underscored that the contribution of health care workers during this pandemic will never be forgotten in B.C.
In addition to a 15 ventilator shipment last week, 15 more ventilators have arrived in B.C., for a total of 30. Dix also says that 38 of them have been refurbished.
Henry notes that there may also be a "second wave in the fall" and that current conditions will likely persist until there is a vaccine available. She remarks that infectious diseases come in waves, and that it is vital that the distancing measures the province has enacted are followed.
Dix says there's little to no chance that things will return to normal by May.
"We are in this for a long time,' he remarks.
Henry adds, however, that she hasn't given up hope that there could be a "reprieve" during the summer, similar to influenza season.
During last week's briefing, Henry stated that the province is moving the focus on testing to identifying cases where the source is unknown, such as in community spread. For anyone who comes into the country and falls ill, Henry recommends that they stay home rather than risk infecting someone else. Of course, if their symptoms are severe they should still seek medical attention.
"We know the source of infection for anyone coming from outside of Canada," notes Henry. "We assume they have the virus and ask them to self-isolate for 14 days."
"We don't need them to come in for testing."
Henry also reinforced the importance of social distancing while still remaining relationships via technology.
Last week, Henry noted that people should consult the new online assesment tool if they aren't sure if they require further testing or assessment for COVID-19. She also underscored the importance of physical distancing, hand washing, covering your mouth if you cough, not touching your face and staying home if you are sick.
