British Columbians botching the bending of the curve as August numbers continue to rise

The month of August is proving to be a challenging one for Health officials in British Columbia to keep British Columbians focused on the common goal of COVID awareness.  

Something lacking perhaps considering these last eighteen days of increasing case reports of COVID, a situation that could lay waste to much of the fine work done leading up to summer.

Today's case count once again shifted in the wrong direction with 83 new cases reported over the last 24 hours.

In their statement Health Minister Adrian Dix and Deputy Provincial Health Officer Réka Gustafson (who is filling in for Dr. Bonnie Henry who has the week off) the need to protect the most vulnerable in the province made for the key theme, something of extra importance as the numbers rise across the province.

“Today, we are announcing 83 new cases, for a total of 4,677 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 775 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 3,704 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Currently, six individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, three of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. As well, 2,326 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. 

There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 198 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. In total, nine long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks. “There are no new community outbreaks. However, community exposure events continue."

Across the province the case count to date is as follows:

1,447 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,473 in the Fraser Health region, 156 in the Island Health region, 407 in the Interior Health region, 120 in the Northern Health region, which is an increase of three from yesterday. 

74 cases of COVID have been reported for people who reside outside of Canada. 

As the province looks to bring the curve back down, the public health officials outlined some of the ways British Columbians can approach the rest of summer and into the fall months.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that we have to think about new things and do things we have never done before. This can be challenging, but we can all take confidence in knowing that by doing our part, we can keep ourselves and those around us safe. 

To support public health teams throughout our province and protect the people we care about most, we have to take the time to assess the risks before we spend time with others. The effort is small, but the benefits are immense. 

We need to continue to protect those who are most vulnerable – our seniors and Elders, and those with underlying health conditions – by thinking about who we are being exposed to, and who we may be exposing, when spending time with others. 

Seeing friends may seem safe, but if you are in close contact with an elderly family member, your visit may inadvertently put them at risk. 

Let’s use our layers of protection, giving ourselves and those around us the space to stay safe no matter what we are doing or where we may be. This is how we protect our communities and stay strong.”

You can review the full review for Tuesday 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

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