Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, today (August 11) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.

Today, we are announcing 46 new cases, for a total of 4,111 cases in British Columbia.

There are 472 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,444 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, eight people are hospitalized with COVID-19, five of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,232 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,167 in the Fraser Health region, 148 in the Island Health region, 393 in the Interior Health region, 100 in the Northern Health region and 71 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 195 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks in the region. In total, seven long-term care or assisted living facilities and one acute care facility have active outbreaks.

There are no new community outbreaks. The Krazy Cherry Fruit. Co. outbreak in the Interior Health region has been declared over. However, there continue to be community exposure events; including ones in Vancouver Coastal Health and Interior Health, and on flights into and out of British Columbia.

Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s website, as well as on health authority websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions you need to take – whether you need to immediately self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.

As we look to fall, what we’ve learned from other jurisdictions is that transmission in a school setting is a reflection of what’s happening in our communities; keeping our community transmission low and slow keeps us all safe.

And behind the scenes, public health is using contact tracing to mitigate the new growth in cases.

Every case is followed up and linked. People who are at risk from exposure to known cases are supported to self-isolate, reducing further community exposure. That is working. The number of people we see self-isolating from the past few days reflects the work that public-health teams are doing tracing people around the province to prevent the spread and stop outbreaks.

Remember, we can all help public health teams in contact tracing by using the skills we have learned: Keep gatherings small, have a designated ‘contact keeper,’ limit time with others, maintain physical distance, and always stay home if you’re feeling unwell.

What we do each day protects us, our families and friends and our communities. Let’s continue to work together to bend the curve not the rules.

Lead image: People are getting creative in how to explain what six feet looks like, like this main street restaurant in Invermere. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

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