What happened: Officials have identified 40 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 271 in B.C. There have been eight deaths, up one from the total reported yesterday.
Why it matters: It shows that viral transmission is continuing to affect people's health in the province.
B.C.'s provincial health officer Bonnie Henry on March 18 said that officials had identified 40 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 271. She said that there have been eight deaths, up one from the total that she reported yesterday.
Henry broke down the number of cases per region:
•152 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region;
•81 in the Fraser Health region;
•22 are in the Island Health region;
•12 are in the Interior Health region; and
•4 are in the Northern Health region.
There are 17 infected patients in hospital – up from 13 people yesterday. Nine of those people are in intensive care.
"We continue to have only five who are in our recovered list, however, we know that most of those people are actually doing very well," she said. "Their symptoms have resolved at home as with most of our cases so far. We are waiting for clearance with laboratory testing."
Seniors' care homes have been hard hit, as three have so far recorded cases. The Lynn Valley Care Centre has the largest cluster of cases in the province and that is where the new death was recorded. So far there is one patient and one care giver at West Vancouver's Hollyburn Care Centre who have tested positive for the virus, and there is one case at the Haro Park Centre in the West End.
Health Minister Adrian Dix announced that British Columbians returning from abroad and whose Medical Services Plan (MSP) coverage has lapsed will be covered. He said the wait period that normally applies when renewing MSP coverage will be waived. People can use their old B.C. services card numbers to obtain health services.
Henry and Dix both stressed the importance of abiding by the orders the government has made, which includes a ban on gatherings with more than 50 people. There have been reports of that ban being flouted.
"This is not optional," Henry said. "I want to be very clear: Everybody needs to take these actions now."
"This is the time we need to build that firewall," she said. "We need to stop the transmission of this disease."
- With files from Nelson Bennett
