Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, today (Nov. 30) 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 Nov. 27 to 28, we had 750 new cases. From Nov. 28 to 29, we had 731 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 596 new cases.

We are also reporting 277 historical cases from the Fraser Health region, reconciling a data lag from earlier this month. This represents 2,354 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 epi-linked cases, for a total of 33,238 cases in British Columbia.

There are 8,855 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 316 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 75 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 10,139 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 23,111 people who tested positive have recovered.

Since we last reported, we have had 368 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,365 in the Fraser Health region, 58 in the Island Health region, 212 in the Interior Health region, 73 in the Northern Health region and one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada.

There have been 46 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 441 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 Veterans Memorial Lodge at Broadmead, St. Judes Anglican Home, Lakeview Care Centre, Fleetwood Villa and Mountainview Village. The outbreak at Louis Brier Home is over.

There has been one new community outbreak at Newton Elementary School.

This has been a challenging pandemic for all of us, with so many of the usual ways that we connect with those we care about – our families, friends and communities – paused or significantly changed as a result of COVID-19.

For the many occasions and daily life activities that we would normally do together, we must stay apart. And despite how difficult this may be, most people in B.C. are doing the right thing.

People have followed the orders and used the important layers of protection because it is a responsibility we have to each other and our fellow citizens, and is how we show we care.

If you are thinking that it may be okay for you to bend the rules, remember that COVID-19 is a serious, life-threatening illness.

By choosing to make the exception for yourself, you are not only going against all that we are doing to slow this virus down and putting yourself at risk, but you are also endangering the lives of others.

We are facing a significant storm surge, which is why, with the start of vaccine availability only a few short weeks away, it is so important for all of us to work together to keep our wall strong, to push back on COVID-19 united and together.

Remember that you are not alone in your sacrifice; it is our collective effort that makes the difference and will see us through.

We have done this before and we can do it again. Let’s do our part today to slow community transmission, to slow COVID-19 and protect everyone in our province.

Lead image: Mandatory masks sign outside Cranbrook’s BCLC. Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW photo

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