Monday, July 20, 2020

With 102 new cases of COVID reported over the weekend, British Columbians warned to heed advice on socialization to stave off potential for explosion of cases




The results of the weekend did not offer up much comfort that British Columbians are holding to their efforts in reducing the risk of COVID, with 102 new cases reported from Friday to Monday, including one new case for the Northern Health region.

Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry relayed the disappointing news, clearly concerned that British Columbians are letting slide some of the hard work over the last few months to control the spread of COVID.

As part of her Monday review Dr. Henry raised some concern over the prospect for explosive growth of COVID in the province if we are not careful.

"Today, we are providing case updates for three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from July 17 to July 18, we had 51 new cases. From July 18 to July 19, we had 19 new cases, and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 32 new cases. 

This represents 102 new cases, including four epi-linked cases since we reported on Friday, for a total of 3,300 cases in British Columbia. There are 253 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,858 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Of the total COVID-19 cases, 16 individuals are hospitalized, four of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation."

Across the province, the case reports are as follows:
1,042 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,713 in the Fraser Health region, 142 in the Island Health region, 280 in the Interior Health region, 69 in the Northern Health region (an increase of one from Friday) and 54 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

 "There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths for a total of 189 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Towards an additional provincial response, the Doctor observed that WorkSafe BC and Provincial Health Inspectors would be stepping up their work to ensure that things are being approached with safety across BC.

Dr. Henry and Minister Adrian Dix also made note of how the review of data to this point has delivered the warning that the infection rate in BC is on the rise.

“The epidemiological data also shows some concerning upward trends: The infection rate for new cases is increasing above one to one, and we are also seeing an uptick in our case curve. This tells us that we are on edge of increasing our social interactions too much and are at risk of a rebound. 

We need to bend our curve back down to where it belongs. 

Public health teams have been very effective in containing the spread. We also need to do our part and be the voice with our friends and family to remind everyone about the steps to take to keep each other safe. 

We are asking everyone to use your connections and influence, whether on social media or in-person, to share the message to socialize safely. 

By playing safe and staying safe, let’s make sure COVID-19 doesn’t spoil our summer."

The full report from Monday can be reviewed here


The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

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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