Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, has ordered all restaurants to move to take out and delivery.
All dining inside restaurants is banned in B.C.
Henry announced Friday there are 77 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C., bringing the provincial total to 348. There are a total of 30 cases in the Island Health region.
Two hundred are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 95 are in Fraser Health, 30 in Island Health, 19 in Interior Health and four in the Northern Health region.
B.C. has the highest number of cases in the country, surpassing the 318 being reported in Ontario.
There are 22 people with COVID-19 in the hospital, 10 in ICU.
Nine people have died so far in B.C., including eight connected to the outbreak at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver. Thee was an additional death, a man in his 80s, in the Fraser Health region.
Henry said about two dozens healthcare workers have contracted the virus. Most cases have been managed at home.
Henry said she has heard concerns that there will be a shortage of supplies to protect healthcare workers.
“We do have enough supplies right now,” Henry said.
“We are doing everything to ensure we can protect anyone in the healthcare system.”
One of the new cases announced Friday is a healthcare worker associated with the Dufferin Care Centre, a care home in Coquitlam. The case is now being managed as an outbreak.
Once an outbreak is declared at a care home, staff are only allowed to work at that care home. However, the rules are different for contract workers but Dr. Bonnie Henry said they are working on getting contracted workers to stay at one place.
Dix said the province will spare no effort to ensure it has the equipment in place to protect health care and other essential workers.
If you think you have COVID-19 symptoms, you can access B.C.’s online self-assessment tool.
With files from The Canadian Press
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