BC's COVID record breaking day delivers 1,293 new cases of coronavirus, pleas from officials to follow measures in place
The rolling wave of COVID-19 has crashed onshore today with a new record, with close to 1300 new cases reported today, a concerning level for both health and political officials who continue to call for the public to re-dedicate themselves to the current measures in place to reduce the rising curve of coronavirus.
Today's wide ranging review also featured notes on variants, vaccinations and new measures for the work place that will come into effect on Monday.
“Today, we are reporting 1,293 new cases, for a total of 108,278 cases in British Columbia.
(Due to a delay in the Public Health Reporting Data Warehouse (PHRDW) lab system, these numbers are reported from the PLOVER system and may be adjusted once confirmed with PHRDW data, when available.)
There are 9,184 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 15,203 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
A further 97,462 people who tested positive have recovered.
Of the active cases, 336 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 101 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,493 deaths in British Columbia."
Across the province, the review by Health Authority was as follows: 448 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 645 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 69 in the Island Health region, 80 in the Interior Health region,
There were 51 new cases of COVID recorded in the Northern Health region, which brings the Northern BC totals to 6,363 cases since January of 2020.
There were no new cases of COVID reported by people in British Columbia who reside outside of Canada.
The vaccination count continues to show promise, closing in on one million British Columbians, with the total to date now 985,001 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines having been administered in B.C., 87,564 of which are second doses.
The province also expanded the vaccination program today, people 65 and older, Indigenous peoples 18 and over, and individuals who have received their ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ letter may register now.
When it comes to variants Doctor Henry and Minister Dix noted the following:
“There are currently 3,776 confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in our province. This data will be updated once whole genome sequencing has been completed. Of the total cases, 104 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 2,842 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 51 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 883 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
The workplace is once again a key focus for the challenges from COVID, with new measures in place should a work site deliver reports of concern to health officials.
“Workplaces continue to be sustained areas of transmission, clusters and outbreaks. These have strained public health resources to manage, so a new provincial health officer Expedited Workplace Closure order is being put in place to allow WorkSafeBC inspectors to support the work of public health and to support businesses when a COVID-19 outbreak occurs at the worksite.
Starting Monday, when the public health investigation determines that transmission has occurred at the workplace, an order may be issued closing the workplace for 10 days or longer to stop the transmission. In the case of complex workplaces (e.g., large construction sites), the closure may be restricted to those parts of the workplace where transmission has occurred.
Public health will also assess whether there is an overriding public interest to keep the workplace open. This would apply to such locations as police stations, fire halls, health-care facilities, schools, shelters, the ferry system, public transportation and distribution hubs of necessary goods such as food and medicine, pharmacies and grocery stores.
When a closure is ordered, WorkSafeBC will serve the closure notice and will then support the workplace to review and enhance safety plans, as needed. A list of workplaces that have been closed and the date of their reopening will be posted on the health authority websites. In all cases additional outbreak control measures, including contact tracing and immunization will continue under public health direction.
Work with employers and WorkSafeBC has been ongoing and will continue through the weekend in preparation of the coming into force of this order on Monday."
The full statement for Thursday, including notes a new survey that Doctor Henry is asking British Columbians to participate in can be reviewed here.
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