Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, today (Sept. 28) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.

Today, we are announcing three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from Sept. 25 to 26, we had 68 new cases, from Sept. 26 to 27, we had 125 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 74 new cases.

These represent a total of 267 new cases, including 10 epi-linked case, for a total of 8,908 cases in British Columbia.

There are 1,302 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,372 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 7,346 people who tested positive have recovered.

Currently, 69 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 22 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 3,226 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,555 in the Fraser Health region, 206 in the Island Health region, 531 in the Interior Health region, 303 in the Northern Health region and 87 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, one in Vancouver Coastal Health, one in Fraser Health and one in the Vancouver Island Health region, for a total of 233 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks: a second outbreak at Holy Family Hospital, a second outbreak at Harrison West at Elim Village and at Thornebridge Gardens. The outbreak at Burnaby Hospital has been declared over. In total, 13 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and three acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There has been a new community outbreak at Calvary Chapel Church in Kelowna in the Interior Health region, as well as other community exposure events around the province.

Public alerts and school notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions to take – whether to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.

Public health contact tracing has shown the primary source of COVID-19 transmission continues to be through socializing with others – whether in your home or less controlled settings. That is why we all need to take a step back from our social interactions, see fewer people and travel less right now.

We have it in our control to push our curve back down. You can make a difference by making safe choices in how you spend time with others.

All we have to do is look to the many, many restaurants, retail stores, salons and other businesses who have shown us that by using our layers of protection and safety basics, we can keep ourselves, our customers, colleagues and communities safe.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate our shared successes and use that to fuel and energize each other in the months ahead.

Social connection is important to all of us, but let’s ensure we are connecting safely. For some people, staying apart is perhaps a more difficult choice to make, so let’s encourage and support each other to do the right thing.

This week, let’s also take a moment to reach out to our seniors and Elders, our friends and loved ones who may be at risk. Let them know they are not alone, and show them you care by staying connected to them virtually this fall.

Let’s keep our communities healthy and strong, by staying home, staying small and staying safe.

Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

e-KNOW

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