Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, have reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 in the province as of Wednesday, including two epidemiologically-linked cases.
None of the new cases are in Island Health, which has had a total of 135 cases since the pandemic began.
There have now been a total of 3,149 cases in British Columbia. There are 207 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,753 people who tested positive have recovered.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 14 individuals are hospitalized, five of whom are in intensive care (no change from July 14).
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,023 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,659 in the Fraser Health region, 135 in the Island Health region, 216 in the Interior Health region, 65 in the Northern Health region and 51 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
No deaths from COVID-19 were reported Wednesday. The death toll in the province remains at 189.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, two long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.
There is one active community outbreak, in addition to several community exposure events.
Dix and Henry released Wednesday’s numbers in a written statement, writing they are “concerned about the increase in new cases in recent days as COVID-19 continues to silently circulate in our communities.”
“While early on, many of our long-term care and assisted living facilities were impacted, most of the new cases are in the broader community,” Dix and Henry wrote.
“Here in British Columbia, as we spend more time with others, we need to find our balance with COVID-19. We need to minimize the number of cases, manage new cases as they emerge and modify our activities accordingly. To do this, we all have to do our part by continuing to use our layers of protection and following our rules for safe social interactions.
“No one wants to get sick with COVID-19, nor do we want to inadvertently pass it onto others. While the symptoms can be mild, it is a complex illness that has serious consequences.”
To see B.C.’s COVID-19 numbers by day, as well as the number of tests, visit the BC COVID-19 dashboard.
According to researchers with Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 13.4 million, with more than 580,000 deaths. The United States has the highest number of cases and deaths.
Alexa Huffman
