British Columbia’s top doctor says COVID-19 is going to be in our communities for many months to come.
In today’s update, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced no new cases on Vancouver Island, with the island’s case count remaining at 146.
Province-wide, 47 new cases were announced, including one epi-linked case.
Epi-linked means the person was never tested but is presumed to have the virus because they developed symptoms and were close contacts of a confirmed case.
Dr. Henry says there are over 1,500 people across B.C. who are currently self-isolating.
If someone you know is self-isolating, or from a community where there are a number of cases, she’s encouraging you to offer them support.
“This virus does not discriminate. We have all been affected by it.”
She says British Columbians have adapted their activities and have helped to minimize transmission across the province.
“We’ve started to see some increase in cases, but we have put layers of protection in place. We have safely restarted our province in a slow, thoughtful and measured way.”
Dr. Henry says people in B.C. have changed how they work, how they shop and will soon change how children return to in-class learning.
“We have kept and continue to keep our community transmission in B.C. low. That is incredibly important, even with the numbers that we have seen in the last week,” she says.
“Obviously they’re higher than I would like to see, but we know where these transmission events are happening. Overall, the transmission that we have seen across B.C. is low and that’s because of all of the measures we have taken collectively.”
Dr. Henry adds that the total number of cases across the province now sits at 3,881, with 371 active cases and a recovery rate of 85 per cent.
