B.C. health officials announced just one new COVID-19 case on Friday.
The provincial COVID-19 total is now 2,632. One case was removed from Thursday’s total due to a data correction.
The new case is not in Island Health. It is in the Fraser Health region.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 130 cases in the Island Health, 908 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,335 in the Fraser Health region, 195 in the Interior Health region and 64 in the Northern Health region.
The number of cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region has been adjusted by one case to reflect a reporting error.
Of the 130 cases in Island Health, 127 are lab-confirmed and three are epidemiologically linked. a A person can be an epidemiologically linked-case if they have either been exposed to a confirmed case or has had the same exposure as a confirmed case (e.g. eaten the same food, stayed in the same hotel, etc). Epidemiologically linked cases are cases that were not tested.
There are 193 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,272 people who tested positive have recovered.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 21 individuals are hospitalized, five of whom are in intensive care.
There has been one new COVID-19-related death in the Fraser Health region, bringing the death toll to 167.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at the Berkley Care Centre in Vancouver Coastal Health has been declared over. In total, five long-term care or assisted-living facilities continue to have active outbreaks.
There have been also no new community outbreaks. Public health teams are providing support for the eight ongoing community outbreaks.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Health Minister Adrian Dix released Friday’s numbers in a statement. In the statement, they said the COVID-19 modelling has shown that the province can safely reopen many businesses, return to in-class learning and gradually increase social interactions, but “we have to be cautious that we don’t go too far and risk a resurgence in cases.”
“The key is to minimize, manage and modify: minimize the number of new cases and close contacts, manage clusters and outbreaks with rapid contact tracing by public health teams and modify the measures we are all following, as needed,” Henry and Dix wrote.
“This means you should continue to assess your risks with every step and take precautions to protect yourself and those around you. Without exception, always stay home when ill and follow the rules for safe physical distancing. Remember that the provincial health officer’s order limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people remains in place.
“We have learned a lot about COVID-19. Most importantly, we have learned that we must all stay vigilant, that a slow and thoughtful approach will protect us and keep us safe, and that by working together and doing our part, we will get through this.”
READ MORE: No active cases on Vancouver Island as last COVID-19 patient sent home from hospital
Earlier Friday, Dr. Bonnie Henry appeared in a profile by the New York Times.
For a breakdown of B.C. COVID-19 cases by day, visit the BC COVID-19 Dashboard.
Alexa Huffman
