What happened: Another 53 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in British Columbia since Saturday. Three deaths have been reported.
Why it matters: The new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. to 2,224. To date, 117 individuals have died from the virus.
Another 53 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in B.C. since Saturday, along with three deaths at long-term care facilities.
B.C. now has 2,224 confirmed cases of the virus within its borders. To date, 117 individuals have died, and 1,417 have successfully recovered from COVID-19.
On Monday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported that there have been no new known outbreaks of the virus in B.C. over the past 48 hours.
"Since we put our control measures in ... in March, we have had a dramatic and sustained decrease in numbers of new cases," Henry said.
There are currently 23 active outbreaks in long-term care and assisted living facilities, which collectively reported 13 new cases since Saturday. In total, 266 residents and 168 staff members at such facilities have tested positive for the virus.
There are now seven positive cases of COVID-19 at Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry, 54 at Superior Poultry Processors Ltd. and 35 at United Poultry Co. Ltd.
Henry said the province believes B.C. is at the "end of our beginning of this pandemic," which means there is now some room for increased social contact and for schools to resume. Some measures – such as a restriction on gatherings of more than 50 people – will likely remain in place for some time, but not necessarily forever.
"We have deflected our curve. We are coming down nicely. We have the measures in place that we know are working," said Henry, who provided an update on the province's modelling, which charts out various scenarios for B.C. depending on when and how the province re-opens its economy.
Should British Columbians increase their social contact to 40% (with 60% physical distancing), Henry said new cases and hospitalizations could be expected to remain relatively low. An increase to 80% would be another matter.
"If we go back to December, where we were having lots of gatherings, where people met, where this virus has the opportunity to take off quite rapidly, we could expect to see just that," she explained.
"Our challenge and our work together is to find that sweet spot – somewhere around increasing our contacts by at least half, or twice as many as we have now, but without allowing those opportunities for rapidly exponential growth of the virus in our communities."
B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix confirmed on Monday that the provincial government will provide an update on what comes next for the province on Wednesday. Last week, Premier John Horgan said B.C. will begin re-opening its economy this week.
The updated totals of confirmed COVID-19 cases in B.C. by regional health authority are as follows:
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 845
- Fraser Health: 1,027
- Vancouver Island Health: 124
- Interior Health: 177
- Northern Health Region: 51
