The B.C. Ministry of Health has reported 34 new cases of novel coronavirus in the province on Thursday, bringing the total number cases in B.C. to 1,370 people.
In total, 626 of these cases are in the Vancouver Coastal Region, 508 in Fraser Health, 82 on Vancouver Island, 130 in Interior Health and 24 in Northern Health region.
There are now a total of 132 people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19, 68 of whom are in critical care – ICU or acute care units.
See also: COVID-19 deaths in Canada could reach up to 22,000, Health Canada projects
Sadly 2 additional deaths were reported today, all on the mainland, bringing the death toll in B.C. to 50.
In good news, a total of 858 people have now recovered from novel coronavirus in B.C.
There are now COVID-19 outbreaks at 20 long term care centres on the mainland, the hardest hit of which is the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.
There remains 235 active cases of the virus, all in facilities located in the Fraser or Vancouver Coastal Health regions.
Measures for health care workers
Today Dr. Bonnie Henry reiterated the importance of allowing health care workers, particularly long term care workers, to work at a single site.
30 of the 50 deaths in the province have occurred among residents at long term care facilities, prompting a need to further contain outbreaks and prevent transmission from one facility to another.
To this end, the province is using orders under both the Public Health Act and Emergency Programs Act to implement a framework that prohibits health care workers, particularly those at long term care facilities, from working at more than one facility during the pandemic.
This framework ensures equitable wage and schedule stability, and employee preferences accommodated wherever possible, in order to allow health care workers to work at a single site without them having to worry about facing economic hardships.
Furthermore, B.C. has received shipments of hundreds of thousands of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) over the past week through donations, purchases, and shipments from the federal government.
According to Health Minister Adrian Dix, many of these PPEs were acquired from vendors in China, and all equipment sourced from new vendors are being inspected and assessed before being distributed into the health care industry.
“We are not over the hump yet and we’re going to have a bumpy ride for a while,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, adding that B.C. is on its way to managing this crisis but we need to hold the line.
“It’s okay to take a walk, it’s okay to take a walk outside, read a book in the sun,” adds Henry, in light of the favourable weather forecast for the upcoming long weekend, reminding people to enjoy the outdoors but maintain their distance from other people.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this disease.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 1,592,801.
Over 95,000 people have died from the illness and 353,315 have made a full recovery.
