Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, today (August 6) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.

Today, we are announcing 47 new cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 3,881 cases in British Columbia.

There are 371 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,315 people who tested positive have recovered.

There are 11 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, five of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,143 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 2,045 in the Fraser Health region, 146 in the Island Health region, 385 in the Interior Health region, 93 in the Northern Health region and 69 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 195 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks in the Vancouver Coastal Health region at the Richmond Lions Manor and the Joseph and Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre. In total, four long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.

There are no new community outbreaks. However, there has been community exposure at Lions Bay Beach Park on July 26, 27, 29, 30 and 31. Anyone who was at the park on these days is asked to limit their contact with others, monitor themselves for symptoms and contact 811 should symptoms develop.

Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control website, as well as on health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions you need to take – whether you need to immediately self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.

The challenges we have all faced as a result of COVID-19 can be daunting and a cause of fear and anxiety for many. We have changed how we work, how we shop and soon, how our kids will return to in-class learning.

We know the virus will be in our communities for many months to come, so we have adapted our activities, put layers of protection in place and safely restarted our province.

This is evidenced by the thousands of businesses that have developed COVID-19 safety plans, reopened and carefully increased the interactions among employees and customers. We have seen this in health-care facilities and services, in restaurants, child care and in our schools in June.

British Columbians have shown that they know the precautions to take to keep themselves, their children and families safe.

When faced with setbacks, we regroup, come together, learn and adapt our approach. We keep moving forward with the full resources and support of public health teams throughout this province.

When new cases emerge, no matter where they may be, public health teams immediately mobilize to identify the source of transmission, notify contacts and contain the spread.

It can be tempting to shut our doors and turn our backs on each other, but rather this is the time to show kindness and compassion, to be there for each other during these challenging days.

If someone you know is self-isolating or from a community where there are a number of cases, this is the time to offer support and help them get the services and care they may need.

Let’s continue to play safe and stay safe this summer, supporting each other with compassion and understanding. As we look to the fall, let’s use the fortitude and resilience that everyone in B.C. has shown to continue to move forward safely.

Lead image: Signage providing details about safety at the entrance to a sports court at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

e-KNOW

Article Share