There are now 3,934 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 53 new cases Friday.
Three of the new cases are epi-linked.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 1,143 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), 2,045 in Fraser Health, 146 on Vancouver Island, 385 in Interior Health and 93 in Northern Health.
Additionally, there have been 69 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. of people who reside outside of Canada.
There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Derby Manor in the Fraser Health region. In total, five long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.
There are no new community outbreaks. However, there continues to be community exposure events throughout the province and on flights into and out of British Columbia.
Yesterday, Vancouver Coastal Health said that people who visited Lion's Bay Beach Park at the end of July may have been exposed to COVID-19. On its public exposures page, the agency lists the Lion's Bay Beach Park warning at the top of its current exposures.
There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, and the total remains at 195 fatalities in the province.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 11 individuals are hospitalized, four of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
There are 386 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,353 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
“As we see new COVID-19 hot spots emerge and the new cases creep up in every health authority, we have to keep our firewall strong. Like a wildfire, COVID-19 has the potential to rapidly burn out of control and we need to put out these flare-ups," said Henry.
“Today, more than 1,500 people throughout our province are self-isolating, unable to leave their home unless it is to get medical care, because they have COVID-19 or have had a high-risk exposure to the virus. This is a concern and something we can change."
As interactions increase, Henry emphasized that we must ensure we are taking the steps to protect ourselves and those around us.
“Now is not the time to relax and let down our guard. Let’s keep our bubbles small, use our layers of protection and give people the space to stay safe," she said. “We have been leaders in how to protect our communities and how to restart our economy. Let’s continue to be the place that leads with kindness and compassion, that works together and keeps COVID-19 low and slow.
“This weekend, let’s continue to hold the line and remember that we can keep our curve flat. We can continue to do that by staying committed to each other.”
