Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, today (Oct. 16) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.

Today, we are announcing 155 new cases, including nine epi-linked cases, for a total of 11,189 cases in British Columbia.

There are 1,513 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,713 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 9,387 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 72 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 26 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,036 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 5,884 in the Fraser Health region, 240 in the Island Health region, 590 in the Interior Health region, 350 in the Northern Health region and 89 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 251 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 and the outbreak at Kin Village has been declared over. In total, 15 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There has been one new community outbreak at the Tim Hortons in Merritt. There also continue to be exposure events around the province. Public alerts and notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities’ websites.

The provincial election is just over one week away and advanced voting is available throughout the province. To ensure the safety of voters, election workers and candidates, Elections BC has COVID-19 safety plans in place for all locations.

If you are planning on voting in person, remember to give others the space to stay safe when going to vote, wash your hands before and after voting, and consider using a mask if distancing is a challenge.

If you are self-isolating due to COVID-19 or are feeling unwell, you can still vote without going to a voting place. Contact Elections BC at 1 800 661-8683 for more information or assistance.

Let’s all do our part to protect our communities this fall and winter, no matter what we are doing. Simple steps make a big difference in keeping all of us safe.

Lead image: A sign in the entry to a store in Kimberley’s Platzl. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

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