On the first day of fall, B.C. health officials have announced 96 new cases of COVID-19 today, seven of which were epi-linked, for a total of 8,304 in the province.
There were three new cases in the Interior Health Authority which is now up to 511 cases – 31 active cases, with one person in hospital.
Active cases were down significantly to 1,465 from a record 1,987 yesterday with a further 3,314 people being actively monitored by public health teams as a result of identified exposure to a known cases.
A ministry spokesperson tells NL News the huge drop in active cases today is largely because Vancouver Coastal Health moved to a new data collection system from a paper based system and that there was a delay in notifying the BC CDC of the number of recovered cases in the last month
There were no new deaths today and the death toll remains at 227 people. There are also 61 people in hospital, of which 22 are in intensive care.
“The start of fall is the time for all of us to regroup and reset our COVID-19 routines, and ready ourselves for the colder, wetter months ahead,” said a statement from the Health Ministry. “As we move inside, the activities we choose to do and the layers of protection we use need to be adjusted to ensure we are protecting ourselves, our friends and family – especially those who are most vulnerable to severe illness.”
“This means spending less time with others outside of our household bubble right now.”
There were no new community outbreaks but there was an outbreak at one unit at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, meaning there are 12 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and four acute-care facilities with active outbreaks.
“We need to push our COVID-19 curve back down and keep the virus low and slow, so we can manage the many challenges that will come with the respiratory season,” added the statement.
The number of people considered to have recovered from COVID-19 is up significantly to 6,589 – about 79 per cent of the total cases.
Earlier in the day, both election and health officials said they were confident that the October 24 election can take place safely.
There were 96 new cases of COVID 19 today in BC (89 test positive and 7 epi-linked). There are 61 people in hospital (+1), 22 in critical care. The number of active cases is down from 1,987 to 1,465. The number of recovered cases is up to 6589.
— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) September 22, 2020
