The B.C. Ministry of Health has reported a record breaking 203 new cases of novel coronavirus in the province over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 12,057.
In total, 4,215 of the cases are in the Vancouver Coastal Region, 6,517 in Fraser Health, 244 in Vancouver Island Health region, 632 in Interior Health, 361 in Northern Health region, and 88 people whose residence is outside of Canada.
The number of active cases has increased by 78 to 1,766 in B.C.
There are now a total of 70 people in hospital due to COVID-19, 21 of whom are in critical care — ICU or acute care units.
Two additional deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 256.
4,294 people are now in isolation and being monitored by public health officials after being exposed to COVID-19.
A total of 9,993 people have now recovered from novel coronavirus in B.C.
Outbreaks
Three new health care outbreaks were reported in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions over the past 24 hours, while two outbreaks in health care facilities have been declared over.
There remain a total of 18 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities that have active, ongoing outbreaks.
B.C. also reported its first ever school outbreak on Wednesday, at École de l’Anse-au-sable school in Kelowna. Three people tested positive for COVID-19 at the institution, and 160 people associated with the school are now in isolation, monitoring for symptoms of the virus.
According to a statement from the provincial health officer, many of the new cases and clusters are directly linked to weddings, funerals, and celebrations of life.
“A wedding is meant to be a time of celebration, yet weddings and other important life occasions are a significant source of community transmission; transmission that has spread to health-care facilities, workplaces and schools,” reads the statement.
There remain number of ongoing COVID-19 exposure sites. B.C. residents are urged to check the BC CDC website for all public alerts about possible exposures to the virus.
Those who may have been exposed are asked to monitor their symptoms, reduce the number of contacts they have, and call 811 to get tested for the virus if they do develop symptoms.
Island Health region
No new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Island Health region over the past 24 hours.
There have been 244 total cases of COVID-19 in the region, six of whom have died, and 227 people have recovered.
Island Health reports that as of October 21, there were 11 active cases on the Island.
- South Vancouver Island Active cases: 5, Total Cases: 94
- Central Vancouver Island Active cases: 6, Total Cases: 77
- North Vancouver Island Active cases: 0, Total Cases: 73
The COVID-19 case curve in Vancouver Island health region as of October 21 is represented below:
As of Wednesday there had been 736,637 novel coronavirus tests conducted across B.C., 89,894 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 pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 41,402,728.
Over 1,134,440 people have died from the illness and 30,811,526 have recovered.
