B.C. reports 110 new cases of COVID-19, 1 new case in Island Health

Posted: Oct. 8, 2020 3:24PM | Last Updated: Oct. 8, 2020 5:16PM

CHEK

The number of COVID-19 cases in British Columbia since the start of the pandemic passed 10,000 on Thursday with 110 new cases.

One of the new cases is epidemiologically-linked, meaning a person who was never tested but was presumed to have COVID-19 because they developed symptoms and were close contacts of a laboratory-confirmed case.

And one new COVID-19 death was reported in the Vancouver Coastal Region, bringing the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 245.

B.C. has now had a total of 10,066 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 223 in Island Health, 3,693 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 5,174 in Fraser Health, 557 in Interior Health, 330 in Northern Health and 89 among people who reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).

There are 76 people in hospital with COVID-19 (five more than Oct. 7), with 17 in intensive care (two more than Oct. 7). Of the hospitalizations, 35 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 37 in Fraser Health, one in Interior Health and one in Northern Health.

There are 1,394 active cases in B.C. (seven more than Oct. 7) 3,139 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (97 more than Oct. 7) and 8,398 people have recovered.

No new community or healthcare outbreaks were reported in the last 24 hours. The outbreaks at Milieu Children and Family Services Society and the Teck Coal Mines have been declared over.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said that passing the threshold of 10,000 cases should serve as a reminder of how many people have been affected by the pandemic, and how important it is to take measures to prevent transmission.

She added the number is under representative of the impact of the virus as there were some people in the early days of the pandemic who were never tested.

“No matter what the numbers may be, thank you for what you are doing,” Henry said.

For the Thanksgiving long weekend, Henry has recommended individual servings rather than buffet-style meals and outdoor dining rather than indoor if at all possible.

On Thursday, she reiterated a reminder to stay local and celebrate Thanksgiving at home this weekend.

“Let’s make this Thanksgiving weekend about gratitude and kindness,” she said.

Henry also issued a reminder to business owners to keep their workplaces safe by making it easy for employees to stay home if they’re sick, maintaining physical distances between workers, doing daily screenings for symptoms and tracking who is on site every day.

Health officials are also urging everyone who is able to get their flu vaccine this year in order to prevent an overload of the health-care system.

Henry acknowledged Thursday that demand has already been very high for the influenza vaccine, but the province has ordered extra supplies and has a plan to make sure as many people as possible are immunized.

But she said that at this early point in the season, people at risk of serious illness and those who work in health care should be the first priority for receiving the vaccine.

Island Health

There are 13 active cases in Island Health (one more than Oct. 7). Of those, six are in southern Vancouver Island (one more than Oct. 7), five are in central Vancouver Island (no change from Oct. 7) and two are in northern Vancouver Island (no change from Oct. 7).

There are no COVID-19 hospitalizations in Island Health and 204 people have recovered.

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 for Oct. 8, 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 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 3:09 p.m. PDT on Oct. 8, 2020:

There are 175,556 confirmed cases in Canada (0 presumptive, 175,556 confirmed including 9,557 deaths, 147,507 resolved)

Quebec: 82,992 confirmed (including 5,915 deaths, 68,585 resolved)
Ontario: 56,742 confirmed (including 2,992 deaths, 48,308 resolved)
Alberta: 19,718 confirmed (including 283 deaths, 17,338 resolved)
British Columbia: 10,066 confirmed (including 245 deaths, 8,398 resolved)
Manitoba: 2,344 confirmed (including 27 deaths, 1,454 resolved)
Saskatchewan: 2,012 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 1,845 resolved)
Nova Scotia: 1,089 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,021 resolved)
Newfoundland and Labrador: 276 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 269 resolved)
New Brunswick: 225 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 199 resolved)
Prince Edward Island: 59 confirmed (including 57 resolved)
Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved)
Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)
Nunavut: No confirmed cases

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 36.3 million. More than one million deaths have been recorded.

Watch Dr. Bonnie Henry on Oct. 8, 2020 below: