The B.C. Ministry of Health has reported 18 new test-positive cases of novel coronavirus in the province today, bringing the total number cases in B.C. to 2,507 people.
In total, 888 of these cases are in the Vancouver Coastal Region, 1,236 in Fraser Health, 127 on Vancouver Island, 194 in Interior Health and 62 in Northern Health region.
The number of active cases has gone up slightly as there are now 310 in B.C. compared to 307 on Thursday.
“The discrepancy between new cases and total cases with the Interior Health and Island Health regions reported today are a data consolidation to reflect COVID-19 cases based on where individuals reside, even if they were not in the health authority during their illness,” reads a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Nine people in Interior Health and one person in Island Health who were recorded as new cases today were linked to the Kearl Lake oil sands project in Alberta. All ten of them completed their self isolation periods in Alberta and have now recovered.
There are now a total of 41 people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19, 8 of whom are in critical care — ICU or acute care units — showing a continued decrease in hospitalizations and ICU rates.
Sadly, three new deaths were reported today and the death toll is now at 155 in total across the province.
In good news, a total of 2,042 people have now recovered from novel coronavirus in B.C.
Outbreaks
In total, there are 14 long term care and two acute care facilities now have active ongoing outbreaks, with the outbreak at Lions Gate Hospital now declared over.
One additional outbreak has been declared at the Mountain federal correctional institution in Fraser Health Region where one person has tested positive for COVID-19.
A community outbreak at the Oppenheimer Group, a fruit and vegetable processing plant in Coquitlam, has three cases.
The coronavirus outbreak at the Mission Institute federal correctional facility continues to have 134 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, including 121 inmates and 13 staff.
There continues to be seven people who tested positive for COVID-19 linked to the Fraser Valley Speciality Poultry outbreak.
A total of 17 people returning to B.C. from the Kearl Lake oil sands project in Alberta have tested positive for the virus, and there are additional family members of those workers who are also at risk of virus transmission.
Island Health region
Specific data for the Vancouver Island Health region shows that there are 127 total cases of COVID-19 in the area.
BCCDC data shows that as of May 21, 121 people have recovered in the Island Health region and there have now been five virus-related deaths in total.
This means there continues to be just one active case in the region, and that patient is in hospital.
Thus far, there have been 127,786 novel coronavirus tests conducted across B.C., 19,241 of which were done in the Island Health region.
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 5,282,612.
Over 338,700 people have died from the illness and 2,139,224 have made a full recovery.
