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

Today, we are providing case updates for three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period, from Sept. 11 to 12, we had 137 new cases, from Sept. 12 to 13, we had 119 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we had a further 61 new cases.

This represents a total of 317 new cases, including four epi-linked cases, since we reported on Friday, for a total of 7,279 cases in British Columbia.

There are 1,594 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,047 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 5,446 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 58 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 16 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 2,557 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 3,754 in the Fraser Health region, 195 in the Island Health region, 473 in the Interior Health region, 216 in the Northern Health region and 84 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been six new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 219 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. The outbreaks at Holy Family Hospital, MSA Manor long-term care facility, Czorny Alzheimer Centre long-term care facility and George Derby Centre long-term care facility have been declared over. In total, 10 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and three acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There have been no new community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events.

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

COVID-19 has required all of us to adjust our daily activities to ensure we are keeping ourselves and those around us safe. Now, we must all hold steady with our layers of protection and get ready for whatever may be ahead.

We have to do our part and be ready for unexpected challenges, like the wildfire smoke that is now impacting many communities.

We remind people with asthma or other illnesses that affect your lungs to ensure your rescue medications are nearby and to take appropriate precautions.

Information and resources on protecting yourself when we have smoky skies is available on the BCCDC website. If you have questions about the air quality or COVID-19, you can also call 811 or contact your health-care provider.

This is also the time for back to school, back to work and back to doing all we can to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

The number of new cases is placing a heavy strain on our public health teams and is a concern for all of us. Let’s help our public health teams to protect our loved ones by doing our part – every day.

The symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild, making it easy to inadvertently spread the virus to others. We have seen this in many of the recent workplace and community exposures that trace back to private gatherings, large and small.

Social connection is important for our mental and emotional well-being, but now is the time to stick with six, to keep our groups small and spend time with only people we know.

Let’s set the routines at work, at school and when spending time with friends and family that will carry us through the pandemic. We know what we need to do. Let’s show each other the kindness that we all deserve by standing strong against COVID-19.

Lead image: Signage for customers entering a Tamarack Centre boutique. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

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