Two additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported for B.C. on Thursday, increasing the total to 200.
“That number is now 200, and while round numbers don’t have significance in and of themselves, they remind us of the extent of the loss,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.
“We’re also reminded in this time of pandemic … of the 346 people lost to the other public health emergency we are dealing with in B.C., the overdose crisis,” he said.
The two people who died were seniors in care in the Fraser Health Authority region.
Eighty new confirmed B.C. cases of COVID-19 were announced, including one in the Island Health region.
There are now 780 active cases and 2,574 people under public health monitoring in the province, up significantly from two weeks ago, when 1,500 people were in isolation and being monitored.
Deputy provincial health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson said while there continue to be new infections, the number is relatively stable and the number of people in hospital and intensive care units remain low.
Dix said there are nine active cases on Vancouver Island.
“We haven’t seen outbreaks of large numbers on Vancouver Island — in fact, the rate of positive tests is lower than any of the other health authorities in B.C.,” said Dix.
He congratulated everyone for keeping the number relatively low, but cautioned that the Island has a higher population of people who are elderly, compromised by chronic illness and more vulnerable to serious illness from the virus.
To date, 4,825 people have tested positive for the virus in B.C.: 1,526 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region; 2,533 in Fraser Health; 159 in Island Health; 411 in Interior Health; and 121 in Northern Health. Gustafson said 3,845 people have fully recovered from their COVID-19 infection.
Eleven people are in hospital, including four in critical care.
There are nine active outbreaks in health care settings — eight in long-term care facilities and one in acute care.
Among community outbreaks, a new one was reported at Loblaws Inc., a distribution centre at 2755 190th St. in Surrey, in the Fraser Health Authority region, after staff working at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Nine employees have tested positive for COVID-19, said the health authority.
Most of the new cases continue to be younger people but Gustafson noted a small increase in people between the ages of 40 and 60 testing positive for COVID-19.
“We are carefully monitoring this trend, because we know that the risk of severe illness goes up with age,” she said.
The two new deaths in long-term care facilities “reflect the vulnerability of this population to severe disease from COVID-19,” said Gustafson.
Restrictions on visitors to long-term care facilities in B.C. have been eased to allow for one scheduled designated visitor but some critics suggest the restrictions remain too severe.
All long-term care facilities in the province are required to have a safety plan for visits.
With the recent increase in new cases there’s been an effort to increase testing capacity. Dix acknowledged that the spike in cases has led to increased calls to the 811 health line. He said a technical problem that saw long delays in calls to Island Health’s call centre has been resolved or will be shortly. “We apologize for the inconvenience and concern that caused.”
The province’s health authorities have the ability to test up to 8,000 people a day. On Wednesday, 4,207 tests were performed.
Gustafson said regardless of where people are in B.C. “we have seen that indoor gatherings that are encouraging very close proximity tend to be an important source of transmission.” Notable similarities in these events are crowding and in some cases, alcohol, she said.
These are often small outdoor gatherings, that are different from controlled settings such as an office or classroom, were you know who is in the room, and you can more easily take precautions.
“We’re asking you to keep your group small, to spend time with people you know,” she said.
As daily COVID-19 cases have risen throughout August, Dix said he’s drawn upon the words of Dr. Michael Ryan of the World Health Organization.
“He said that in a pandemic we have choices,” Dix said. “We can give up or we can fight. It’s that simple and it’s that hard. We can give up or we can fight. So we look at our recent COVID case numbers and we ask ourselves do we still fight, and I think we do.”
