Island Health reports no new COVID-19 cases for third straight day, B.C. records 148 new cases

Island Health reports no new COVID-19 cases for third straight day, B.C. records 148 new cases
Province of BC/File photo
Chief Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on COVID-19 on August 10, 2020.

For the third day in a row, Island Health recorded no new cases of COVID-19. However, there were 148 new cases in the entire province Thursday.

Twelve 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.

Two more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours, both in Fraser Health. The B.C. COVID-19 death toll is now 229.

Island Health

Island Health now has six active cases in the health authority (two fewer than Sept. 23). Of those active cases, one is on southern Vancouver Island, two are on central Vancouver Island and three are on north Vancouver Island.

Island Health has had a total of 203 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Island Health's COVID-19 numbers as of Sept. 24, 2020 (Island Health)

Island Health’s COVID-19 numbers as of Sept. 24, 2020 (Island Health)

B.C. COVID-19 cases

B.C. has now had a total of 8,543 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 3,094 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 4,361 in Fraser Health, 203 in Island Health, 520 in Interior Health, 278 in Northern Health and 87 among residents outside of Canada.

There are 1,371 active cases in B.C. (five fewer than Sept. 23), 3,417 under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (an increase of 49 from Sept. 23) and 6,917 people have recovered.

There are 61 people with COVID-19 in hospital in B.C. (one fewer than Sept. 23), with 20 people in intensive care (an increase of two from Sept. 23).

There is one new COVID-19 healthcare outbreak at the Banfield Pavilion long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health. The outbreak at the OPAL by Element facility has been declared over.

On Thursday, during the live COVID-19 briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry referenced her comments at the Union of B.C. Municipalities earlier this week where she said she had received death threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It has been a challenge,” she said, adding when people are anxious and afraid, they may lash out in anger and frustration.

“There’s been much more positive feedback that I’ve been getting on a daily basis …  I do appreciate all of the notes and good wishes.”

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.

Henry said Thursday that there had been no school outbreaks so far, but there have been approximately 30 school exposures in the province.

“That is not surprising to me, we have over 2,000 schools across the province,” said Henry. “Public health is there for every single school and we will continue to be there.”

Henry also clarified some confusion around school notices, explaining that schools send out notices for a variety of different concerns, but public health will send out a notice of their own when they are involved.

“The public health notices we’ve been sending out are the same across the province,” she said.

The Island Health school site can be found here. Island Health has not posted any school exposures as of Wednesday, Sept. 23.

B.C. has posted detailed information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases from January to August 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 August 2020 (BC CDC)

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 4:14 p.m. PDT on Sept. 24, 2020:

There are 149,094 confirmed cases in Canada (0 presumptive, 149,094 confirmed including 9,249 deaths, 128,706 resolved)

  • Quebec: 69,670 confirmed (including 5,810 deaths, 59,943 resolved)
  • Ontario: 48,496 confirmed (including 2,836 deaths, 41,886 resolved)
  • Alberta: 17,190 confirmed (including 261 deaths, 15,467 resolved)
  • British Columbia: 8,543 confirmed (including 229 deaths, 6,917 resolved)
  • Saskatchewan: 1,835 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 1,681 resolved)
  • Manitoba: 1,711 confirmed (including 19 deaths, 1,243 resolved)
  • Nova Scotia: 1,087 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,021 resolved)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 272 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 267 resolved)
  • New Brunswick: 199 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 191 resolved)
  • Prince Edward Island: 58 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 has passed 32 million. More than 979,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded around the world. The United States continues to have the highest number of cases and deaths.

Watch Dr. Bonnie Henry on Sept. 24, 2020, below: 

With files from CBC and The Canadian Press

Alexa HuffmanAlexa Huffman

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