Call to 'push the curve back down', as BC feels impact of Labour Day period, recording 139 new cases on Friday, with three additional deaths noted

A case count that is consistently in the 120-130 range had Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a moment of reflection on the late summer period and it's impact of the reports in recent weeks, with the two top public health officials providing the last statistical review of the week. 

“Today, we are announcing 139 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases. We are also reporting 40 historic cases that were tested between Aug. 11 and Sept. 16 for people who did not have personal health numbers. 

All these cases have been previously investigated and managed by Vancouver Coastal Health, but had not been entered into the data system. 

This brings our total to 7,842 cases in British Columbia. 

 There are 1,803 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,075 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 5,797 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Currently, 59 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 20 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. "

Across the province, the Health Authority totals to date include: 2,817 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,007 in the Fraser Health region, 196 in the Island Health region, 492 in the Interior Health region, 244 in the Northern Health region, that making for an increase of three since Thursday's review. 

86 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in people who reside outside of Canada. 

The Friday report also made note of three additional passings in the last 25 hours.

 “There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 223 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."        

The recent spike in British Columbia numbers comes the late summer period when British Columbians perhaps were not as attentive to the measures in place and the importance of caution to reduce the risks of COVID to family and friends.

“We need to push the COVID-19 curve back down and we have the knowledge, the tools and resources to do just that. Always using your layers of protection and choosing to stick with your ‘safe six’ will help all of us this weekend and every weekend ahead. 

The cases we are seeing today are a direct result of how we spent our Labour Day long weekend. Let’s break the chain of transmission and turn this trend around. 

No one intends to pass the virus onto friends or family, but it is very easy to do. It can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to develop and in that time, we can inadvertently spread it to others. 

That is why the actions we take as individuals today are so important to the well-being of our communities tomorrow. Let’s choose safe, let’s choose small and let’s choose to protect the people we care about most.”

You can review the COVID-19 report for Friday 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, those past advisories  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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