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B.C. confirms 15 new cases of COVID-19, for total of 2,392

There have been three new deaths
Elana Shepert
Elana Shepert
bonnie-henry-march16
Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix. Screengrab

There are now 2,392 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C., after health officials announced 15 new cases Thursday.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there are 878 cases in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­Coastal Health (VCH), 1,149 in Fraser Health, 126 on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­Island, 181 in Interior Health and 58 in Northern Health.

There are no new outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Currently, there are 15 active outbreaks in long-term facilities and five in acute care.19 outbreaks have been declared over, including the Lynn Valley Care Centre, which was one of the first major outbreaks. There are 309 residents affected and 191 staff.

There are no new community outbreaks to report.

 

Superior Poultry, which had been ordered to close, has been re-opened with health and safety protocol in place to protect the workers.

There are 17 positive cases of COVID-19 connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta and additional family members. Anyone who is returning from the plant is asked to self-isolate for 14 days. 

There have been three new deaths, for a total of 135 fatalities in the province. 

There are currently 58 people in acute care in hospital and 12 are in critical care. 

1,858  people have fully recovered and are no longer in isolation. 

Live conference more to come..

“Our playbook for the pandemic has the ‘rules’ all of us must learn and follow. Keeping these top of mind will allow us to keep progressing through BC’s Restart Plan:

  1. Maintain physical distancing outside your household. For example, no handshaking or hugging, keeping your number of contacts low and keeping a safe distance.
  2. Practise good hygiene – hand hygiene, avoid touching your face and respiratory etiquette.
  3. Stay at home and away from others if you are feeling ill. That means staying home from school, work or socializing.
  4. Make necessary contact safer with appropriate controls, i.e., using Plexiglass barriers or redesigning spaces.
  5. Increase cleaning of frequently touched surfaces at home and work.
  6. Consider using non-medical masks in situations where physical distancing cannot be maintained, such as on transit or while shopping.
  7. Continue to minimize non-essential personal travel.
  8. Stay informed, be prepared and follow public health advice.

Earlier this month, Premier Horgan unveiled B.C.'s new guidelines to re-open the provincial

economy. B.C.’s economy will restart in four phases, with the first order of business being the resumption of elective surgeries, personal care services, like dentistry, hair salons, retail and the reopening of provincial parks for day use starting in mid-May.

But concerts, conventions and other large gatherings—phase four—could continue to be banned for one to two years, as their resumption is contingent on a vaccine being developed, the development of herd immunity or a new drug to treat the COVID-19 virus.

- With files from Nelson Bennett and Hayley Woodin.