VICTORIA – Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia:

“Today, we are reporting on three 24-hour periods. From Oct. 16 to 17, we had 172 new cases. From Oct. 17 to 18, we had 153 new cases. In the last 24 hours, we have had a further 174 new cases.

“This represents a total of 499 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases, for a total of 11,687 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 1,639 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 4,028 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 9,753 people who tested positive have recovered.

“Currently, 67 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 19 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

“Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,146 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 6,244 in the Fraser Health region, 243 in the Island Health region, 611 in the Interior Health region, 355 in the Northern Health region and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada. Please note the data correction in cases from outside of Canada.

“There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 253 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been four new health-care facility outbreaks at Royal Arch Masonic Home, The Village in Langley, Rosemary Heights Senior Village and Zion Park Manor. The outbreaks at Banfield Pavilion and Yaletown House have been declared over. In total, 17 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

“There has been one new community outbreak at J&L Beef Limited. There continue to be exposure events around the province. Public alerts and notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control's (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities’ websites.

“There continues to be transmission of COVID-19 in many parts of the province. While this is expected, we all need to remain vigilant to slow the spread as much as possible.

“We want to keep as many activities as possible open for all of us and keep our communities safe. This is the balance we are working hard to achieve, and following our safety basics allows us to do just that.

“We want to avoid a rapid increase in new cases that overwhelms the health-care system, making it more difficult to care for those who are unwell – whether from COVID-19 or another illness.

“The best way to do that is to take precautions and use our layers of protection, no matter where we may be.

“Finding that balance also means quickly finding new cases and clusters of COVID-19. Our contact tracing teams are working around the clock to track every new case that emerges.

“If you are contacted by public health, sharing information about where you have been and who you have seen will ensure one new case does not turn into 100.

“What you do makes a difference to your health, those of your loved ones, colleagues, friends and those you don't know. Let’s slow the spread and break the chain of transmission.”

Learn More:

BCCDC's safer celebrations guidance: 
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/social-interactions/safer-celebrations

To learn more about the Oct. 5 modelling presentation, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/COVID19_Going_Forward_Oct_2020.pdf

Guidance for Halloween during COVID-19: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/social-interactions/halloween

To find the provincial health officer's orders, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/covid-19-novel-coronavirus

To see a map of COVID-19 cases by local health area, visit:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/data

If you are experiencing symptoms, find a collection centre near you to get tested:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/testing

For mental health and anxiety support, visit: www.bouncebackbc.ca
Or: www.anxietycanada.com

For a listing of the community exposure events, go to:

BCCDC (flights, work sites, etc): http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/public-exposures
Fraser Health: fraserhealth.ca/covid19exposure
Interior Health: https://news.interiorhealth.ca/news/public-exposures/
Island Health: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/covid-19/outbreaks-and-exposures
Northern Health: https://www.northernhealth.ca/health-topics/outbreaks-and-exposures
Vancouver Coastal: http://www.vch.ca/covid-19/public-exposures

For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and testing, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/
Or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.

For non-health related information, including financial, child care and education supports, travel, transportation and essential service information, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/covid19
Or call 1 888 COVID19 (1 888 268-4319) between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. (Pacific time), seven days a week.

For the latest videos and livestreaming of COVID-19 media availabilities, visit:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BCProvincialGovernment/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGovNews 
YouTube: www.youtube.com/ProvinceofBC

Two backgrounders follow.

Assisted living, long-term care homes, seniors' rental buildings with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks are as follow:

• Vancouver Coastal Health
  • Haro Park Centre long-term care facility (second occurrence)
  • Point Grey Private Hospital long-term care facility
  • Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility (second occurrence)
  • Weinberg Residence long-term care facility

• Fraser Health
  • Chartwell Carrington House assisted and independent living facility
  • Chartwell Crescent Gardens long-term care facility
  • George Derby Centre long-term care facility
  • Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre long-term care facility
  • Harrison West at Elim Village long-term care facility
  • Langley Lodge long-term care facility (third occurrence)
  • Peace Portal Seniors Village long-term care facility
  • PICS assisted-living facility
  • Rosemary Heights Seniors Village independent, assisted-living and long-term care facility
  • The Village assisted-living and long-term care facility
  • Thornebridge Gardens assisted-living facility
  • White Rock Seniors Village long-term care facility
  • Zion Park Manor long-term care facility

To recap B.C.'s cumulative totals from March to last week's report on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the following Personal protective equipment (PPE) has arrived in B.C.:

• just over 7,000,000 N95 or equivalent respirators;
• almost 64,000,000 surgical or procedure masks;
• just over 2,700,000 pieces of eye protection, including goggles and face shields;
• just over 153,000,000 pairs of gloves; and
• almost 10,500,000 gowns.

Many of the items listed above, and other supplies and equipment that have recently arrived, are in the testing process to make sure products meet or exceed safety requirements before being used in B.C.’s health-care system.

Over the last week (since the update last week on Tuesday, Oct. 13 until yesterday), the following PPE has arrived in B.C.:

• 48,464 N95 or equivalent respirators;
• 1,823,800 surgical or procedure masks;
• 920 pieces of eye protection;
• 9,942,120 pairs of gloves; and
• 290,695 gowns.

B.C. continues to source and test PPE, and is working hard to pursue any and all credible leads for safe, effective products for the health system.