Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, today (Dec. 21) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia.

Today, we are reporting on three 24-hour periods. From Dec. 18 to 19, we had 652 new cases. From Dec. 19 to 20, we had 486 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 529 new cases.

This represents a total of 1,667 new cases of COVID-19, including 14 epi-linked cases, for a total of 47,067 cases in British Columbia.

There are 9,718 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 341 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 80 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 9,651 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 35,455 people who tested positive have recovered.

Since we last reported, we have had 283 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,084 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 21 in the Island Health region, 189 in the Interior Health region, 90 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

Last week, 3,644 front-line health-care workers received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia. Over the next two days, vaccine deliveries will arrive in every health region, and public health teams are readying clinics to begin in the coming days.

There have been 41 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 765 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have had five new health-care facility outbreaks at Fleetwood Villa, Nicola Lodge, The Mayfair Seniors Living, The Gardens at Qualicum Beach and Heritage Retirement Residence. The outbreaks at Bradley Centre, White Rock Seniors Village, Royal City Manor, Harrison Pointe and Agecare Harmony Court Estates are now over.

There have been new community outbreaks at two Coastal GasLink worksites in 7 Mile Lodge in the Burns Lake Local Health Area and in Little Rock Lake Lodge in Nechako Local Health Area.

We have to remember COVID-19 spreads quickly, but shows up slowly, and when it does appear, it can cause serious and life-threatening illness.

We are starting to see a levelling in the COVID-19 curve. At the same time, we are also seeing hundreds of new people each day with confirmed cases, many of whom have become severely ill, requiring care and treatment in hospital.

The people getting sick today contracted the virus days ago, which is why the actions we take today make such a difference to our well-being tomorrow.

Our health-care workers and front-line teams have been working non-stop to provide care to all those who need it and they are understandably in need of a reprieve.

Today, on the longest night of the year, let’s do our part to give them the break they deserve. Let’s all share some light for our health-care workers and show them we care for them as much as they care for us.

Together, let’s make this holiday season a safe season for all of us and do our part to make 2021 brighter, healthier and safer for everyone.

Lead image: A sign at the entry to Top Crop in Cranbrook. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

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