Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said there were 82 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. in the last 24 hours, including one new case in Island Health.
One of the new cases is epidemiologically-linked, meaning a person who was never tested but presumed to have COVID-19 because they developed symptoms and were close contacts of a laboratory confirmed case.
One new COVID-19 death was reported on Thursday in the Fraser Health region, bringing B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll to 235.
There are 69 people with COVID-19 in hospital (down three from Sept. 30), with 19 in intensive care (down two from Sept. 30). Of those hospitalizations, 29 are in Vancouver Coastal Health, 36 are in Fraser Health, two are in Interior Health and two are in Northern Health.
There are 1,261 active cases in B.C. (down 23 from Sept. 30), 3,093 under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (down 109 from Sept. 30) and 7,695 people have recovered.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 209 cases in Island Health, 3,360 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 4,712 in Fraser Health, 535 in Interior Health, 317 in Northern Health and 87 among people who normally reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
There are no new community outbreaks. There is one new healthcare outbreak at the George Derby Centre in Fraser Health. This is the second time an outbreak has been declared at this long-term care facility.
Henry said on Thursday that a record number of COVID-19 tests (10,889) were done in B.C. in the last 24 hours. The per cent positive ( the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive) is under one per cent (0.75 per cent).
Henry said there has been “linear increase” in the province but not exponential growth. She added there continues to be transmission throughout the province.
She also said on Thursday, she knows there is concern and anxiety around schools.
“We want everybody to be safe,” Henry said. She added that while communication wasn’t perfect initially, each school has a COVID-19 plan and is liaising with their school health officer all across the province.
“We are doing our best. We don’t always get it right, right off,” Henry said.
Henry said a school exposure is when a single person is confirmed positive for COVID-19 and has been in the school during their infectious period. A cluster is when two or more people who are positive have attended school. An outbreak is when there is an ongoing transmission and officials not sure who is transmitting to whom.
Henry said as of Thursday, there have not had any outbreaks in a school setting in B.C. There have been cases and smaller transmission events.
According to Henry, every time there is a school exposure, contact tracing kicks in. Even if someone is in a school, they may not be at risk of exposure, she said.
“If somebody has been exposed to this virus, there is nothing we can do to prevent them from getting sick,” she said.
“What we need to do is keep them away from others during that incubation period. If they develop symptoms, then we can be sure they are not transmitting it.”
Island Health
Island Health has four active cases (an increase of one from Sept. 30). There are three active cases on southern Vancouver Island (one more than Sept. 30) and one active case on central Vancouver Island (no change from Sept. 30)
There are no COVID-19 hospitalizations in Island Health and 199 people have recovered. A total of 1,107 tests were done in the last 24 hours.
Southern Vancouver Island includes the Greater Victoria region, Southern Gulf Islands and the Port Renfrew area.
Central Vancouver Island includes the Cowichan Valley, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni and Tofino areas.
Northern Vancouver Island goes from the Comox Valley to Port Hardy but also includes surrounding areas like Alert Bay and Sointula.
Island Health’s COVID-19 numbers as of Oct. 1, 2020. (Island Health)
Henry also addressed the rally that was held at the B.C. legislature on Sept. 29 by families asking for increased visitation in long-term care.
“This is something that we’ve been paying attention to. And it’s so challenging.”
Henry said health officials want to make sure there continues to be enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to support visitors, appropriate staff and that the processes in place, like essential visits, can remain in place as the pandemic continues.
She said officials are looking at whether an alternate person could do visits instead of one person at a time. But Henry added there is always the risk that a potential COVID-19 exposure can affect an entire long-term care facility.
READ MORE: Island Health says changes made to improve COVID-19 call centre delays
More COVID-19 information
If there is a confirmed COVID-19 case in a school, public health contacts affected school community members directly. Regional health authorities also post school notifications on their websites, providing the date and type of notification (outbreak, cluster or exposure) for impacted schools.
The Island Health school site can be found here. Island Health has not posted any school exposures to date.
B.C. has posted detailed information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases from January to August 2020. This map will be updated monthly, according to B.C. health officials.
Geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases in B.C. from January to August 2020 (BC CDC)
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 along with any public exposures.
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 all provincial 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 (CDC) here.
The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 3:11 p.m. PDT on Oct. 1, 2020:
There are 160,542 confirmed cases in Canada (7 presumptive, 160,535 confirmed including 9,319 deaths, 136,350 resolved)
- Quebec: 75,221 confirmed (including 5,850 deaths, 63,144 resolved)
- Ontario: 52,248 confirmed (including 2,851 deaths, 44,422 resolved)
- Alberta: 18,235 confirmed (including 269 deaths, 16,370 resolved)
- British Columbia: 9,220 confirmed (including 235 deaths, 7,695 resolved)
- Manitoba: 2,029 confirmed (including 20 deaths, 1,388 resolved)
- Saskatchewan: 1,927 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 1,759 resolved)
- Nova Scotia: 1,088 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,021 resolved)
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 275 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 269 resolved)
- New Brunswick: 200 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 192 resolved)
- Prince Edward Island: 59 confirmed (including 57 resolved)
- Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved)
- Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
- Nunavut: No confirmed cases, 7 presumptive
- Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 34.1 million. More than one million deaths have been recorded.
Watch Dr. Bonnie Henry on Oct. 1, 2020, below:
More to come
With files from The Canadian Press
Alexa Huffman
