Time to slow down social interactions, says Dr. Bonnie Henry as weekend numbers spike to near 300 reported cases of COVID-19

British Columbians are about to bring an end to the summer of 2020 and perhaps that isn't but a moment too soon, as the daily numbers of August continued with their upward trends, this past weekend delivering 194 new cases of COVID-19 making for 1100 active cases and an increase in hospitalizations.

The weekend overview was delivered by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix this afternoon, with the Public Health Officer for the Province observing that the time is once again here to begin reducing our social interactions, that as a way towards reducing the impact of a potential second wave of the coronavirus and other challenges ahead.

“Today, we are providing case updates for three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from August 28 to 29, we had 86 new cases, from August 29 to 30, we had 107 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 101 new cases."  

This represents 294 new cases, including three epi-linked cases, since we reported on Friday, for a total of 5,790 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 1,107 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 2,723 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 4,466 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Currently, 28 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 10 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation."

The cross province break down found additions in all of the Health Authorities across BC this weekend.

1,900 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 3,042 in the Fraser Health region, 175 in the Island Health region, 440 in the Interior Health region, 154 in the Northern Health region an increase of twelve since Friday.

79 cases of  COVID have been recorded in the province from people people who reside outside of Canada.

“There have been four new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 208 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 community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events. The Northern Health region has issued a community alert for the Prespatou region. Anyone who has attended events, services or gatherings in August are asked to monitor themselves for symptoms and contact health teams to get tested should any symptoms develop."

With the August increases of note, Dr. Henry and Minister Dix outlined the approach British Columbians must return to this fall in order to bring down the rising curve of late.

“As we look to the fall, we are entering a new phase of B.C.’s COVID-19 response, and to be successful, we need to step back to allow us to safely move forward. 

The increase in the number of new cases is a concern for all of us. We must to do our part and support public health teams to quickly manage new cases so we can contain the spread of the virus and ensure community spread remains low. 

After many months of restrictions, we all felt the need to reconnect with our family and friends this summer, but now we must slow down on our social interactions and prepare for the respiratory season ahead. 

We need everyone to pay attention and step back from the social interactions we have had this summer, so when the cooler weather and respiratory season arrives, we are ready for the challenge. 

As we go back to our offices, workplaces and schools, we need to get back to the basics with our layers of protection and personal COVID-19 safety measures. This will allow us to protect our most vulnerable during the colder months. 

This means all of us washing our hands regularly, keeping our groups small, giving others the space to stay safe in uncontrolled environments, especially when we are around people we don’t know, wearing masks when needed and always staying home when ill."

You can review the full COVID 19 report for Monday 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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