What happened: The number of seniors' care homes that have official cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has risen by two in the past 24 hours and now sits at 11.
Why this matters: Outbreaks in these homes can spread fast and seniors are far more vulnerable to die of the disease than are younger people. Some reports put the death rate for the disease in seniors at around 15%.
Surrey's The Harrison at Elim Village and Langley's Chartwell Independent Living at Langley Gardens are the latest two homes to record infections, the B.C. government announced March 27. In both cases the infected people at the homes are employees and not residents.
Overall in the province, there are 67 new cases of COVID-19 infection for a total of 792 total cases, according to the government. It did not break down how many of those new cases are at seniors' homes.
North Vancouver's Lynn Valley Care Centre is the seniors' home that has long had the largest cluster of cases in the province. As of yesterday, there were 70 infections in the facility, including those in 46 residents and 24 employees. That was up by seven new cases compared to the day before.
Haro Park Centre, in Vancouver's West End, has long been the second largest cluster of COVID-19 infections in the province. It had 58 cases as of yesterday, including infections in 30 residents and 28 workers. That count was up by three compared with the day before.
Lynn Valley Care Centre has had at least 11 deaths, and as of yesterday that included all of the deaths that have taken place involving patients or staff at seniors' care centres in B.C.
The government said March 27 that there have been two new deaths and that those deaths were both in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. It did not specify, however, if either of those deaths was connected to an infection at a seniors' care home.
Overall, there have been 16 deaths so far in the province, as a result of this new disease.
Seven other seniors' homes have had outbreaks in the province.
That includes two cases – one resident and one worker – at West Vancouver's Hollyburn House.
The other six homes all have one case, and they are:
•Broadway Pentacostal Lodge;
•Vancouver's German Canadian Care Home;
•Vancouver's Little Mountain Place;
•Delta's Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre;
•Coquitlam's Dufferin Care Centre; and
•White Rock's Evergreen Heights Assisted LIving.
