B.C. health officials reported 62 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, including two more cases in Island Health.
Two 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 now had a total of 5,304 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 170 in Island Health, 1,699 cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,795 in the Fraser Health region, 429 in the Interior Health region, 133 in the Northern Health region and 78 cases of people who reside outside of Canada (visitors and temporary foreign workers).
Of the two new cases in Island Health, one is in the southern Vancouver Island region and one is in the central Vancouver Island region. There are 13 active cases in Island Health as of Aug. 26. There are no hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Island Health.
Island Health numbers as of Aug. 26 (Island Health)
There are 896 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 2,730 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases (an increase of 55 from Aug. 25), and 4,199 people who tested positive have recovered.
Currently, 21 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (down one from Aug 25), seven of whom are in intensive care (no change from Aug 25).
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday. The B.C. COVID-19 death toll remains at 203.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks or community outbreaks. In total, 10 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks. They are:
- Arbutus Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Holy Family Hospital long-term care facility in Vancouver Coastal Health
- Bear Creek Villa independent-living facility in Fraser Health
- Czorny Alzheimer Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Dania Home long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Derby Manor long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- George Derby Centre long-term care facility in Fraser Health
- Maple Ridge Seniors Village assisted-living facility in Fraser Health
- MSA Manor long-term care facility (second outbreak) in Fraser Health
- New Vista Care Home long-term care facility in Fraser Health
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, and Minister of Health Adrian Dix released Wednesday’s numbers in a statement. Earlier in the afternoon, the province released an update on back-to-school plans. All 60 districts in B.C. have had their plans approved.
“In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is understandable that many people have had increased anxiety and concern for the well-being of their families and themselves,” Henry and Dix said.
“For parents in particular, there is the added challenge of navigating a new approach to in-class learning that includes a number of additional public health protocols and precautions. Today, the Ministry of Education provided the latest updates on back-to-school plans. These plans are the outcome of many minds coming together in every school district to take the public health guidelines that have been developed and apply them to meet the specific needs of each school district.”
“School will be new for everyone this year – just as how we spend time with friends and how we operate our businesses has required a different way of doing things than we have ever done before.”
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.
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 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 here.
Under Island Health, there are three possible public exposures listed. Anyone who was at the following locations on the following dates and times is asked to self-monitor for symptoms.
- Mary’s Bleue Moon Cafe at 9535 Canora Road, Sidney, B.C. The dates and times provided by Island Health are Aug. 21 between 4 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and Aug. 22 between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. OR between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
- 10 Acres Cafe & Market at the Sidney Pier Hotel & Spa (NOT The Pier restaurant) at 9805 Seaport Place, Sidney, B.C. The dates and times provided by Island Health are Aug. 20 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and Aug. 21 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Il Falcone Restaurant 536 6th Street Courtenay, B.C. The date and times are Aug. 16 between 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of global COVID-19 cases has now surpassed 24 million. More than 821,000 deaths have been recorded.
Alexa Huffman
