B.C. health officials are reporting 30 new cases of COVID-19 in the province as of Tuesday, while two cases have been removed from Island Health’s total.
Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, issued a written statement on Tuesday, saying there were 30 new cases, including one epi-linked cases, bringing the provincial total to 3,328 cases.
In Island Health, there has now been a total of 140 cases in the health authority. No new cases were reported on July 21.
The Ministry of Health says of the two cases removed from Monday’s total, one case was identified as a resident of another province in Canada and the other case was a resident of another B.C. health authority.
There were 136 cases as of July 17 in Island Health, followed by 142 cases as of July 20, but two have since been removed. Of the total, 128 people have recovered and there have been five deaths.
There are 266 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,873 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the total COVID-19 cases, 15 individuals are hospitalized (one fewer than July 20), three of whom are in intensive care.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,043 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,731 in the Fraser Health region, 140 in the Island Health region, 291 in the Interior Health region, 69 in the Northern Health region and 54 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
Dix and Henry said there is a data correction in the overall number of total and active cases compared to Monday’s numbers.
There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths as of Tuesday. The death toll remains at 189.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, one long-term care facility and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
According to Dix and Henry, there continue to be several community exposure events and one active community outbreak. The recent community cases have meant that some restaurants, wineries and recreational facilities in the Okanagan and Lower Mainland have been notified of a potential exposure with some employees, or have had employees who are confirmed positive for COVID-19.
“As we have seen in many other places, a few missteps can quickly result is a significant resurgence in new cases of COVID-19,” Dix and Henry wrote.
Here in B.C., our curve is trending upward, and we need to bend our curve back down to where it belongs. Many of the new cases are a result of community transmission from an increase in social interactions this summer. This trend is a concern, but we can turn this trend around.”
Dix and Henry said the province now knows what it takes to flatten the COVID-19 curve of cases.
“We can stop transmission by seeing fewer people, only spending time with people we know, keeping a safe distance from others and using a mask when that is difficult. Let’s continue to follow these rules for safe social interactions,” Dix and Henry said.
“We also need to support contact tracing efforts by paying attention to where we go and who we see, and always, without exception, staying home if we are feeling at all unwell. We commend the businesses who have proactively notified the public and temporarily closed for additional cleaning. This is a clear example of how we can contain the risk when it is known, slow the spread and continue to operate safely.”
Earlier Tuesday, Dix said the province has hired more staff and increased operating-room hours to catch up on B.C.’s cancelled surgeries but a significant surge in COVID-19 cases could impact recovery.
To see B.C.’s COVID-19 numbers by day, testing numbers and recovered cases by health authority, visit the B.C. COVID-19 dashboard.
According to researchers with Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is now more than 14.7 million, with more than 611,000 deaths.
With files from The Canadian Press
Alexa Huffman
