Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, say there are 58 new cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, including two new cases in Island Health.
One of the new cases is epidemiologically-linked, meaning a person who was never tested but was presumed to have COVID-19 because they developed symptoms and were close contacts of a laboratory-confirmed case.
There has now been a total of 5,242 COVID-19 cases in B.C. since the beginning of the pandemic.
Island Health has had a total of 168 cases since the start of the pandemic. The two recent cases are in the southern Vancouver Island region. There are 15 active cases in the health authority and no hospitalizations.
Island Health’s COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 25, 2020. (Island Health)
There are 925 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,675 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (an increase of 81 from Aug. 24). A total of 4,114 people who tested positive have recovered.
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the province continue to go up, with 22 people in hospital (an increase of four from Aug. 24). Seven of those people are in intensive care (an increase of two from Aug. 24).
Elsewhere in B.C., there have been 1,683 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,762 in the Fraser Health region, 425 in the Interior Health region, 128 in the Northern Health region and 76 cases of people who reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
No new deaths were reported Tuesday. B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 203.
Two new health-care facilities have outbreaks: one at Bear Creek Villa and one at Langley Memorial Hospital. Both are located in the Fraser Health region.
In total, 10 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks. They are:
- Arbutus Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Holy Family Hospital long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Czorny Alzheimer Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Dania Home long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Derby Manor long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- George Derby Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Maple Ridge Seniors Village assisted living facility in Fraser Health
- MSA Manor long-term care facility (second outbreak) in Fraser Health
- New Vista Care Home long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Bear Creek Villa independent living facility in Fraser Health
“We know that COVID-19 is going to be with us for many months to come. As a result, unlike other viruses that have a vaccine, our focus is to keep new cases low and slow, and quickly contain new outbreaks as they occur,” Dix and Henry said in Tuesday’s statement about the latest COVID-19 numbers.
“Our recent daily cases are higher than many of us are comfortable with, so let’s continue to do our part every moment of every day and keep COVID-19 where it needs to be. While we would all like to get to zero, we need to rather focus on prevention, detection and rapid response.”
Dix and Henry also addressed the province’s latest overdose numbers.
“Many people have lost fathers and mothers, sons and daughters directly to the illness. For others, as evidenced by the latest BC Coroner’s Service report on illicit drug deaths, an existing crisis has worsened as a result of the pandemic,” Dix and Henry said.
“Our thoughts and condolences also go out to the families and communities of the 175 people we lost to the toxic street drug supply in July. We know where the risks are and who is most vulnerable, which means we can put the right precautions in place based on the location, risk of transmission and potential severity of illness.”
Island Health’s COVID-19 data breaks down North, Central and South Island case counts and lists the number of days since any new lab-diagnosed cases. You can find the data here.
To see B.C.’s COVID-19 numbers by day and health authority, along with testing numbers and recoveries, visit the B.C. COVID-19 dashboard. The numbers are updated at 4:30 p.m. PT each weekday.
To see a list of public COVID-19 exposures in the province, including links to exposures listed on health authority websites, visit the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website here.
Currently, under Island Health, there is one alert for a possible COVID-19 exposure, at Il Falcone Restaurant in downtown Courtenay. The restaurant is located at 536 6th Street in Courtenay.
Anyone who was at the restaurant on Aug. 16 between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. is being asked to monitor themselves for symptoms.
“If you have been in one of these locations at times of possible exposure, it does not mean you will develop COVID-19. The possible exposures listed on this site are believed to be low risk but, out of an abundance of caution, we ask that anyone who may have visited any of the locations listed on the specified dates and times to monitor themselves for symptoms,” Island Health states under its website.
There have been employees at other Vancouver Island businesses who have tested positive for COVID-19 and BC Ferries has confirmed one of its employees tested positive as well.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of global COVID-19 cases is more than 23.7 million, with more than 815,000 deaths.
Alexa Huffman
