SURREY – Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, 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 234 new cases, including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 14,109 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 2,344 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 5,714 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 11,448 people who tested positive have recovered.

“Currently, 86 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 24 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

“Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,588 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 8,036 in the Fraser Health region, 256 in the Island Health region, 734 in the Interior Health region, 406 in the Northern Health region and 89 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

“There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 262 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been five new health-care facility outbreaks: The Gateway Assisted Living for Seniors, Mayfair Terrace Retirement Residence, Lakeview Care Centre, Louis Brier Home and Hospital, and Yaletown House. The outbreak at Zion Park Manor has been declared over. In total, 25 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.

“There have been no new community outbreaks. 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.

“Fall is a time when many holidays and celebrations occur, whether that is Halloween, Diwali or Remembrance Day. It is a time of cooler weather and increased respiratory illness. This year, we also face the added challenge of COVID-19.

“Many of the new cases we have today are directly linked to gatherings, in our homes and elsewhere, that are now resulting in community transmission of COVID-19 in communities across the province. 

“This Halloween weekend, we need to celebrate in new ways. We need to keep our groups small – in our homes and on the streets.

“Trick-or-treaters are reminded to give others the space to stay safe and to respect those homes that are choosing not to participate this year. And we remind everyone that there is a provincial health officer’s order limiting the number of people who can be in your home to your household, plus no more than six.

“Despite the best of intentions to maintain our distance and use the layers of protection when going to someone’s home, it can be hard to keep up the precautions when we are talking, eating and drinking together indoors.

“Rather, if you are wanting to spend time with a small group of friends, choose a COVID-19 safe space – either outside or a location that has a comprehensive COVID-19 safety plan.

“Let’s protect our loved ones, our Elders and our communities and show them we care by staying small – this weekend and every weekend this winter.”

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

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, visit:

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.

Vancouver Coastal Health:

• Haro Park Centre long-term care facility (second occurrence)
• Lakeview Care Centre
• Louis Brier Home & Hospital
• Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility (second occurrence)
• Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility
• Banfield Pavilion - 4th Floor West long-term care facility
• Yaletown House long-term care facility

Fraser Health:

• Agassiz Seniors Community
• Amenida Seniors Community
• Baillie House long-term care facility
• Banfield Pavilion
• Evergreen Baptist Care Society long-term care facility
• Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge
• Fellburn Care Centre long-term care facility
• Fort Langley Seniors Community long-term care facility
• Good Samaritan Victoria Heights assisted-living facility
• Laurel Place long-term care facility
• Mayfair Terrace Retirement Residence
• Peace Portal Seniors Village long-term care facility
• PICS assisted-living facility (second occurrence)
• Queen’s Park Care Centre
• Rosemary Heights Seniors Village independent-, assisted- and long-term care facility
• St. Michael’s Centre long-term care facility
• Sunset Manor assisted-living facility
• The Gateway assisted-living facility
• The Village assisted-living and long-term care facility

From March 16 to May 17, 2020, non-urgent surgeries — surgeries that have a target wait time of greater than six weeks — were postponed as part of the initial COVID-19 pandemic response. Urgent and emergency surgeries continued to be performed during this period.

On May 7, health authorities began calling all patients waiting for surgery to confirm they were ready, willing and able to proceed with their surgery in a COVID-19 environment. To date, 104,628 patients have been contacted about their surgery.

Health authorities resumed non-urgent surgeries on May 18. They have completed 144,420 surgeries as of Oct. 25, of which 111,835 were urgent and non-urgent scheduled surgeries, and 32,585 were unscheduled or emergency surgeries.

Total surgeries completed by health authority since May 18:

• 39,853 in Fraser Health;
• 26,663 in Interior Health;
• 8,402 in Northern Health;
• 34,115 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 29,489 in Island Health; and
• 5,898 in the Provincial Health Services Authority.

Weekly total surgeries completed from Oct. 12 to 18:

Last week, health authorities reported 5,643 surgeries completed. Health authorities have verified their data and the total number of surgeries completed was 5,920.

Weekly total surgeries completed from Oct. 19 to 25:

This week, health authorities completed 6,925 surgeries.

There are a significant number of contact-tracing job candidates. It is expected that these will be reflected in hiring numbers next week.

Across all health authority roles:

• 304 candidates are in the interview stage
• 78 candidates are in the offer process

There continues to be interest in the contact-tracing positions, primarily through health-authority mechanisms.

In total:

• 7,953 individuals have expressed interest, with 2,105 individuals expressing interest to Health Match BC (HMBC) and 5,848 expressing interest directly to health authorities.
  • In the past week, 554 people have expressed interest.
• HMBC has referred 1,330 individuals to regional health authorities and the Provincial Health Services Authority.
  • In the past week, 63 positions have been filled across all health authorities.
• To date, there have been 523 total hires. This surpasses the initial contact-tracing target of 500, first announced in August 2020.