B.C. health officials reported 317 new cases of COVID-19 in the province over the weekend, including five new cases in Island Health.
A total of 137 cases of COVID-19 were reported from Friday to Saturday, 119 from Saturday to Sunday and 61 from Sunday to Monday.
Four 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.
Six new COVID-19 deaths were also reported over the weekend, bringing B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll to 219. Five of the six deaths were in long-term care: four in Fraser Health and one in Vancouver Coastal Health. The other death was in the Northern Health region, the first for the health authority. The death was a woman in her 70s who died in hospital. She contracted COVID-19 after attending a community event.
Fifty-eight people with COVID-19 are in hospital in B.C. (an increase of nine from Sept. 11), with 16 in intensive care (an increase of six from Sept. 11). Twenty-eight hospitalizations are in Fraser Health, 22 are in Vancouver Coastal Health, seven are in Northern Health and one is a resident from outside of Canada who is hospitalized in Vancouver Coastal Heatlh.
“COVID-19 is placing a heavy strain on our public health teams and this concerns me as well,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said.
Island Health has now seen a total of 195 cases since the start of the pandemic. There are 12 active cases in the health authority.
Of the five new cases, three are in the southern Vancouver Island area and two are in central Vancouver Island. There are eight active cases on southern Vancouver Island and four on central Vancouver Island.
There are no COVID-19 hospitalizations in Island Health.
Island Health COVID-19 numbers on Sep. 14, 2020 (Island Health)
B.C. has now had a total of 7,279 cases since the start of the pandemic. There have been 2,557 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 3,754 in Fraser Health, 195 in Island Health, 473 in Interior Health, 216 in Northern Health and 84 among people who reside outside Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
There are 1,594 active cases (up 133 from Sept. 11), 3,047 people are under active health public health monitoring (down 151 from Sept. 11) and 5,446 COVID-19 recoveries.
While announcing Monday’s COVID-19 numbers, Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix also talked about the wildfire smoke blanketing large parts of B.C. due to wildfires in the western United States.
Henry said there has been some confusion over whether symptoms are due to wildfire smoke or COVID-19. There are some symptoms in common, including dry cough, sore throat, runny nose, and a headache. However, other symptoms like fever, body aches and chills are unlikely to be caused by wildfire smoke.
She said schools are actually safer than many homes amid wildfire smoke, which has been observed during other years where B.C. has seen wildfire smoke around the province. But she does not want windows open
Henry also said wearing a tight-fitting mask outdoors can help reduce smoke intake. She also recommended people remain indoors as wildfire smoke can be harmful.
People can use the BC COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool to help determine if they need further assessment or testing for COVID-19.
If you are unsure whether you need medical care, call HealthLink BC at 811. If you are experiencing difficulty in breathing, chest pain or discomfort, or a severe cough, contact your health care provider, walk-in clinic, or emergency department. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.
B.C. has posted detailed information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases from January to July 2020. This map will be continually updated, according to B.C. health officials.
Geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases in B.C. from January to July 2020. (Province of BC)
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.
One of the latest public exposures is Air Canada flight 195 from Toronto to Victoria on Sept. 5. The affected rows are one through four but anyone on a domestic flight with a COVID-19 case should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days, the BC CDC says.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 29.1 million. There have been more than 925,000 deaths reported.
Watch Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix on Sept. 14 below:
More to come
Alexa Huffman
