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B.C.’s COVID-19 updates for Feb. 16
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, today (Feb. 16) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia.
Today, we are reporting on four periods. From Feb. 12 to 13, we had 452 new cases. From Feb. 13 to 14, we had 431 new cases. From Feb. 14 to 15, we had 348 new cases and in the last 24-hours, we had a further 302 new cases.
This results in a total of 1,533 new cases, including six epi-linked cases over the previous four days, for a total of 74,283 cases in British Columbia.
There are 4,189 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 231 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 74 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Currently, 7,138 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 68,705 people who tested positive have recovered.
Since we last reported, we have had 392 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 856 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 58 in the Island Health region, 92 in the Interior Health region, 135 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
To date, 171,755 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 22,914 of which are second doses. Immunization data is available on the COVID-19 dashboard at: www.bccdc.ca
There have been 26 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,314 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost loved ones to COVID-19.
To date, we have had 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants of concern: 40 of the B.1.1.7 (UK), 19 of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variants and one B.1.525 (Nigeria).
There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks at Shaughnessy Care Centre, Eden Gardens and Wexford Creek. The outbreaks at Heritage Square, Concord by the Sea and Holy Family Hospital are now over.
We have also had one new outbreak at the Timothy Christian school in Chilliwack.
We have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that the tides can turn quickly and if we don’t stay vigilant, our successes can easily be washed away.
While the overall number of new cases in our province is lower than it was a few weeks ago, it is still much higher than we want it to be, and we are once again seeing increases in the higher-population Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions.
It doesn’t take much for community spread to get out of hand, which is why our individual efforts are so important to break the chains of transmission.
If you have symptoms of COVID-19, it is important to stay home, stay away from others and arrange to get tested right away. We ask all employers to support their employees and make this possible for everyone.
Sticking with all of the precautions we have in place is needed until we reach that milestone of widespread community immunity through our immunization program.
This week, we will start to see increased deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine. While this is encouraging, our supply remains limited and we are continuing to defer second doses for most people until we have greater, more stable supply.
Vaccines stimulate our immune system to protect us from viruses like COVID-19. These new vaccines are proving to be highly effective even with one dose – upwards of 89% effective in B.C. residents in long-term care.
As we ramp up our immunization program once again, we have to remember today’s new cases are a result of our actions two weeks ago. But more importantly, the precautions we take today will define how we fare two weeks from now.
What we do makes a difference and every day counts. This means staying the course with our layers of protection and continuing to follow the public health restrictions and guidance we have right now.
Lead image: A polite request at the entry to a Cranbrook business. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo
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