The Saturday COVID-19 information update from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, provided for a mix of the statistical review for the last 24 hours of reported case files, as well as more guidance on the province's response to the ongoing situation in the province.
With both officials continuing to put the focus on how British Columbians can help to reduce the risk of passing on infection.
For the Stats overview the Province announced 76 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 424 cases in British Columbia.
“It is with sadness that we share the news that another Lynn Valley resident who previously tested positive for COVID-19 has passed away. We offer our deepest condolences to their loved ones and the staff who cared for them.
Every health region in British Columbia has people with COVID-19: 230 are in Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, 126 are in Fraser Health Authority, 37 are in Vancouver Island Health Authority, 27 are in Interior Health Authority and four are in Northern Heath Authority.
Additionally, of the total COVID-19 cases: 27 individuals are currently hospitalized, of which 12 are in intensive care, six individuals have recovered and the remaining patients are at home in isolation."
With the increase of Saturday, both the Public Health Officer and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced further measures that will impact on the service industry in the province.
“Until further notice, personal service establishments – like barbershops, salons, nail estheticians, health spas, massage parlours, tattoo shops and others – are ordered to close."
Dr. Henry also provided a tutorial towards how the province's COVID-19 team is tracking the virus and what they have determined to this point.
“As part of our COVID-19 response strategy, our B.C. team has been tracking the epidemiology of the virus. Epidemiology looks at the who, what, where and when of disease outbreaks – to better understand their sources and effectively combat them. That is how we were able to determine the initial cases in B.C. were travel-related.
Because we now know a lot more about COVID-19, our testing strategy has evolved to focus on clusters and outbreaks, patients in hospital and health-care workers.
Here in B.C., 55% of all positive cases are female. This is because we have seen younger, female health-care workers with the virus – mainly related to the Lynn Valley Care Centre and other long-term care outbreaks. “As part of the virus tracking, we look at two curves: the total number positive test results and the date of symptom onset, as determined by the public health investigation of each case.
We pay attention to the onset curve, because we know that the time from the onset of symptoms to when someone is tested can sometimes several days. This is because people’s initial symptoms may be too mild to consider speaking to their doctor or going for testing.
As we get more information about the onset of symptoms from patients, the onset curve is updated to reflect this new information."
Towards "flattening the curve" both officials urged that everyone take the preventive measures that they have been highlighting for the last week towards social distancing, advising that the time is now at hand to stay at home as much as possible, advice which if followed will determine the impact of the virus in the coming weeks.
To review more from today's statement see their information release here.
The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.
Federal Government site
British Columbia Government site
The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.
More from Northern Health can be reviewed here
You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.
Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, the string of statements that came quickly at the end of the week can be reviewed here.
For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee
Ottawa Observations
Victoria Viewpoints
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