B.C. health officials reported 155 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including one new case in Island Health.
One additional COVID-19 death was also reported in the province, bringing B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll to 251.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, issued Friday’s numbers in a statement.
Nine of the new cases are epidemiologically-linked, meaning people who were never tested but were presumed to have COVID-19 because they developed symptoms and were close contacts of a laboratory-confirmed case.
B.C. has had a total of 11,189 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 240 in the Island Health region, 4,036 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 5,884 in the Fraser Health region, 590 in the Interior Health region, 350 in the Northern Health region and 89 cases of people who reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
There are 1,513 active cases of COVID-19 in the province (19 more than Oct. 15), 3,713 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (30 more than Oct. 15) and 9,387 people who tested positive have recovered.
Seventy-two people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (two fewer than Oct. 15), 26 of whom are in intensive care (two more than Oct. 15).
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at Kin Village has been declared over. In total, 15 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks. They are:
- Banfield Pavilion long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Haro Park Centre long-term care facility (second occurrence) in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Point Grey Private Hospital long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Weinberg Residence long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Yaletown House long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Chartwell Carrington House assisted- and independent-living facility in Fraser Health
- Chartwell Crescent Gardens long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- George Derby Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Harrison West at Elim Village long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Langley Lodge long-term care facility (third occurrence) in Fraser Health
- Peace Portal Seniors Village long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- PICS assisted-living facility in Fraser Health
- Thornebridge Gardens assisted-living facility in Fraser Health
- White Rock Seniors Village long-term care facility in Fraser Health
There has been one new community outbreak at a Tim Hortons in Merritt, B.C.
“The provincial election is just over one week away and advanced voting is available throughout the province. To ensure the safety of voters, election workers and candidates, Elections BC has COVID-19 safety plans in place for all locations,” Henry and Brown said in Wednesday’s statement.
“If you are planning on voting in person, remember to give others the space to stay safe when going to vote, wash your hands before and after voting, and consider using a mask if distancing is a challenge.
“If you are self-isolating due to COVID-19 or are feeling unwell, you can still vote without going to a voting place. Contact Elections BC at 1 800 661-8683 for more information or assistance.
“Let’s all do our part to protect our communities this fall and winter, no matter what we are doing. Simple steps make a big difference in keeping all of us safe.”
Island Health
Island Health as 14 active COVID-19 cases: seven in southern Vancouver Island and seven in central Vancouver Island.
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 on Oct. 16, 2020 (Island Health)
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.
B.C. has posted detailed information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases from January to September 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 September 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.
Data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine shows the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 39.1 million. More than 1.1 million deaths have been recorded.
Alexa Huffman
