There was one new COVID-19 death in British Columbia today, along with 30 new cases – 29 test positive and one epi-linked – according to Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Eleven of those new cases was in the Interior Health Authority, which now has had 315 cases. There were also eight new cases in Northern Health, the biggest single-day jump in that part of the province since the pandemic reached B.C., eclipsing the previous largest total of five cases in a single reporting period.
“This virus can be a stealth virus. We have seen it move around our province, sometimes silently with far reaching impacts and serious consequences,” Dr. Henry said. “Being around crowds of people, especially people you don’t know put your and your family and your friends at risk.”
There are now 304 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., up from the 285 from yesterday. Sixteen people in hospital with the virus, three of whom are in ICU. The death toll meanwhile is up to 190, after nine straight days where no death was reported.
“Everyone deserves to have a fun summer and I think we need it here in B.C. and across the world with what we’ve been dealing with for the last few months, but it needs to be a safe summer,” Henry added.
“Today, we know that over 1,000 people in every health authority are self isolating. It shows that the actions of a few, even if inadvertent can cause a tremendous impact.”
B.C. will also be bringing in a new public health order to ensure that people who rent things like houses, house boats, and other vacation rentals, limit the number of guests inside those properties at any given time.
“Only spend time with those that you are closest to, those you know and use your layers of protection,” Henry said.
“Our restaurants have a requirement of no more than six people per table. You can use this number as your guidance for other social activities. That is what is going to prevent transmission in our communities.”
Earlier in the day, Premier John Horgan also called on people to use common sense in response to the COVID-19 cluster caused by parties in downtown Kelowna on and around Canada Day this year.
The number of people considered fully recovered from the virus is now 2,898, or about 85 per cent of the total number of cases.
