Vancouver – While we are not seeing a flattening of the curve as say South Korea there is hope.
First the bad news – Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia:
“We are announcing 67 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 792 cases in British Columbia.
“Every health region in British Columbia has patients with COVID-19: 391 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 262 are in the Fraser Health region, 57 are in the Island Health region, 70 are in the Interior Health region and 12 are in the Northern Heath region.
“We are saddened to report two more deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal health region. Our condolences to their loved ones during this difficult time.
“Two additional long-term care homes in the Fraser Health region have staff with confirmed cases of COVID-19, The Harrison at Elim Village and Chartwell Independent Living at Langley Gardens. In total, 11 long-term care homes in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions have confirmed cases of COVID-19. Public health officials are providing support to implement outbreak protocols.
Now the good news:
“Additionally, of the total COVID-19 cases, 73 individuals are currently hospitalized, and the remaining people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“We are tracking the epidemic curve closely here in B.C. We are also monitoring outbreaks in other nations to guide our health system preparations and public health response.
“In the past few days, our upward path has been less severe than other places, but we continue to see steady increases in community transmission cases and continue to be concerned about outbreaks, which could quickly grow and challenge our pandemic response.
