B.C. recorded 223 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours as active cases passed the 2,000 mark.
Five of the new cases reported on Friday 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.
There are 2,009 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. (89 more than Oct. 22 and an all time high), 4,637 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (212 more than Oct, 22) and 10,247 people who tested positive have recovered.
Seventy-five people with COVID-19 are in hospital (four more than Oct. 22), with 24 in intensive care (no change from Oct. 22).
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Friday. The province’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 256.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, released Friday’s numbers in a joint statement.
B.C. has now had a total of 12,554 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 250 in the Island Health region (one more than Oct, 22), 4,319 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region (59 more than Oct.22), 6,864 in the Fraser Health region (139 more than Oct. 22), 662 in the Interior Health region (18 more than Oct. 22), 371 in the Northern Health region (six more than Oct. 22) and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
There were 6,582 tests completed in the past day. B.C.’s testing rate is 112,278 per 1,000,000.
There have been two new community outbreaks at Coast Spas Manufacturing in Langley and Pace Processing in Surrey.
There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks at Laurel Place and Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge. The outbreaks at PICS Assisted Living, Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre, Chartwell Carrington House Retirement Residence and Thornebridge Gardens Retirement Residence have been declared over. In total, 16 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks. They are:
- 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
- Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility (second occurrence) in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Al Hogg Pavilion in Fraser Health
- Baillie House long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Evergreen Baptist Care Society long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge in Fraser Health
- Fort Langley Seniors Community long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Good Samaritan Victoria Heights assisted-living facility in Fraser Health
- Laurel Place in Fraser Health
- Peace Portal Seniors Village long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Rosemary Heights Seniors Village independent, assisted and long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Sunset Manor assisted-living facility in Fraser Health
- The Village assisted living and long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Zion Park Manor long-term care facility in Fraser Health
“In recent days, we have seen a number of new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the community and in long-term care facilities. Contact-tracing teams throughout our province are working around the clock to stop further spread, but it requires all of us to do our part to be successful in these efforts,” Henry and Brown wrote in Friday’s statement.
“This is our opportunity and the time to take a step back from our social interactions and keep our groups small this weekend. In doing this, we show our appreciation and support for the important work of contact tracers.
“It is also the time to show kindness to those around us. None of us know the stories and experiences of those around us, so let’s make this weekend one of compassion and care for everyone.”
Island Health
Island Health has 15 active cases: five on southern Vancouver Island, seven on central Vancouver Island and three on northern Vancouver Island.
There are no COVID-19 hospitalizations in Island Health and 229 people have recovered. A total of 849 tests were completed in the last day.
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. 23, 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.
Island Health has one school exposure listed as of Oct. 22. The exposure is at Wood Elementary in Port Alberni on Oct. 19.
According to Island Health, if your child’s school has been notified of an exposure, no action is required unless you are contacted by Public Health or are otherwise directed by school officials.
The Island Health school site can be found here.
On Wednesday, B.C. had its first school outbreak at École de l’Anse-au-sable school in Kelowna. Henry said while it’s obviously not what anyone wants to see, it is not unexpected. She said it’s a sign that contact tracing is working. There are five cases connected to the outbreak.
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.
According to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 42 million. More than 1.1 million deaths have been recorded.
On Thursday, Canada saw a record high number of COVID-19 cases with 2,788 new illnesses recorded.
In an Ottawa news conference on Friday, Canada’s chief public health officer called, again, for Canadians to reduce their contacts with other people, wear masks and follow hygiene protocols.
Dr. Theresa Tam says the longer we wait to curb the spread of COVID-19, the harder it will be to contain.
Alexa Huffman
