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Orders on gatherings and events extended to Feb. 5
B.C.’s COVID-19 update for Jan. 7
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, Jan. 7 issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.
Today, we are reporting 761 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 56,015 cases in British Columbia.
There are 6,349 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 372 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 74 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Currently, 8,849 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 47,374 people who tested positive have recovered.
Since we last reported, we have had 94 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 484 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 23 in the Island Health region, 96 in the Interior Health region, 64 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
To date, 41,064 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia. Our focus is to ensure we safely deliver the vaccines as quickly as possible to communities throughout the province, using all available supply.
There have been eight new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 970 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have had one new health-care facility outbreak at Ts’i’ts’uwatul’ Lelum.
From the first COVID-19 case in our province, we shared the latest information about the pandemic here in British Columbia. This is important, because it allows all of us to understand how we are progressing and what trends are developing, so we can make informed decisions about our personal actions.
In the last few weeks, we have looked at how we can automate some areas of the collection and reporting of cases. Today, we have started to use a new system for the daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases that will streamline one part of what is a complex and onerous process.
The new system will automatically report all laboratory confirmed cases from the previous day, plus cases followed up by the health authorities, to provide more timely reporting of data. The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) dashboard and data tables will now show the lab result date instead of the reported date.
There will be an adjustment in the dashboard to reflect the lab results – they will look slightly different. There will be an increase in case counts today and for a few days as the new system kicks in and the previous lag from positive lab result to reported case is eliminated.
There will continue to be fluctuations in our numbers as cases are verified. That is why the seven-day average is important to pay attention to. The daily case count is only a snapshot on a given day, at a given time.
Importantly, what remains the same is every case is still counted, every person who is positive is still notified as soon as possible, and contact tracing and follow-up to identify new clusters and outbreaks continues.
Like every part of Canada and many places around the world, the risk of spread of COVID-19 remains extremely high and new cases and clusters continue to emerge.
Here in B.C., we are and will continue to do all we can to protect our province, and we ask everyone to do the same.
As a result, the current provincial health officer’s orders on all gatherings and events have been extended through to Feb. 5, 2021, at midnight. The same restriction, including on social gatherings in people’s homes and in public venues, and all events and sports activities continue to apply.
We need to hold the line with the public health orders for the next two incubation periods – one month – to ensure we are doing all we can to keep everyone in the province as safe as possible. These orders enable our health-care system, schools and essential workplaces to continue to stay open, which is important for all of us.
Going forward, every Thursday we will update ongoing outbreaks in long-term care, assisted living and independent living facilities in British Columbia. The first update can be found here.
We have also developed new guidance to clarify essential and social visitation, which will further support families and operators to balance resident and staff safety against the provision of opportunity for essential and social connections between residents and family/friends. This is going out to health authorities and providers today, and will be posted to the BCCDC website here.
Brighter days are without a doubt ahead, when thousands more will be immunized from COVID-19 and the spread of the virus has slowed. Let’s work together now knowing what we do will make a difference for all of us tomorrow.
Lead image: Masks, masks and more masks for sale at Cranbrook’s Staples store. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo
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