There are now 2,632 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C., after health officials announced nine new cases Thursday.
There have been nine total new cases. However, five of these cases tested positive, while four are epidemiologically-linked. Epidemiologically-linked cases are close contacts of a person who tested positive, but for any of variety of reasons did not get a positive test - they may have had mild illness or were identified when illness was recovered.
Provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 909 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 1,334 n Fraser Health, 130 on Vancouver Island, 195 in Interior Health and 64 in Northern Health
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, six long-term care or assisted-living facilities continue to have active outbreaks.
Public health teams continue to provide support for community outbreaks at federal corrections facilities, the processing facilities in the poultry sector and for individuals connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta.
There is one new community outbreak at the Beresford Warming Shelter in the Fraser Health Region with three confirmed cases.
There have been no new COVID-19 deaths.
There are currently 26 people in acute care in hospital and six are in intensive care.
There are 201 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 2,265 people who tested positive have recovered.
Live conference more to come..
“Racialized communities face obstacles that others to do not, and we have seen British Columbians proudly stand up and speak out against racism," said Henry in yesterday's briefing.
“Exercising our right to peaceful demonstration is extremely important, and equally important is keeping our communities, loved ones and friends safe during this pandemic.
“Whether going to the grocery store, seeing friends on a patio or attending a peaceful demonstration, the same rules for safe physical distancing apply.
“Be mindful of the risks you are taking and continue to follow the provincial health officer’s order to limit gatherings to no more than 50 people.
“Consider alternative ways to peacefully demonstrate, as we have seen elsewhere. Gather in smaller numbers in multiple locations, maintain a safe physical distance from those around you and use a non-medical cloth mask for the brief periods when in closer contact to others.
“Let’s stand united across our province, our nation and around the world. Let’s continue to work together and learn from others to keep our firewall strong and importantly, use this time to spread the message of respect and tolerance rather than spreading the virus.”
