Health officials on Saturday announced 29 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C., bringing the province’s total number of cases to 1,203.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported that there are 554 cases in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health (VCH), 424 in Fraser Health, 76 on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Island, 128 in Interior Health and 21 in Northern Health.
There have also been three additional deaths, bringing B.C.’s total number of fatalities caused by the virus to 38.
According to Henry, there are currently 149 people in hospital due to COVID-19, with 68 of those individuals currently in intensive or critical care.
704 people have fully recovered.
There has also been one more community outbreak in a long-term care facility, which brings the total number to 23. Two of them are very serious, she said, likely referring to previously mentioned outbreaks at Lynn Valley Care Centre and Haro Park.
Long term care facilities continue to be “an area of particular focus,” for provincial health officials, Henry explained.
Though the number of new cases announced today is the lowest announced this week, the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains very high for British Columbians, she said.
“We are in the thick of it. And we must hold our line. This is our time to be unwavering in our commitment, and to keep our firewall strong. To keep our distance between us - our physical distance, that safe distance between us that doesn't allow this virus to spread, but also to ensure that we're taking those measures to keep socially connected, to support each other in our families in our communities, so that we can get through this together.”
Henry said testing is moving rapidly now, citing a “24-hour turnaround.”
“There’s not a large backlog of people waiting for tests,” she said.
But, when asked at what point she expects to begin using an excess of acute care beds for purposes aside from COVID-19 patients, Henry cautioned that the next two weeks will demonstrate how well precautionary measures such as handwashing, social distancing, travel bans and closing schools have worked for B.C.
“After the Easter weekend, we'll have a much better idea of where we are,” Henry said.
Henry took Saturday’s briefing as an opportunity to talk about some of the research that is being done on COVID-19 across the province, including an advisory committee helmed by Dr. David Patrick of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control and the University of British Columbia that Henry said is contributing to the province’s understanding of the virus.
As well, $2 million has been provided to the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research to trace how the virus is transmitted, work that would inform modelling, Henry said.
Work towards creating a vaccine is continuing both in B.C and in 25 initiatives around the world, Henry said.
When asked whether there has been any new evidence that COVID-19 is being spread by asymptomatic carriers of the virus, Henry said people not showing symptoms are not considered to be the “major driver” of community infection.
“The vast majority of transmission [occurs] when people are mildly ill,” she said.
“It’s those early symptoms that people may not notice - they can be subtle, particularly in young healthy people. So whether it's [people who are] asymptomatic or right around the time that you're developing your symptoms, we need to be cautious about that.”
Questioned about whether it’s advisable to have grandparents looking after youngsters, Henry said it’s important that people’s social connections remain limited so family members don’t introduce the virus to others, particularly those more vulnerable to having serious illness.
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With files from Jeremy Hainsworth
