Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia:

“Today, we are reporting 15 new cases, for a total of 2,407 cases in British Columbia.

"There are 359 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 1,908 people who tested positive have recovered.

"Of the total COVID-19 cases, 51 individuals are hospitalized, 12 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

"Every health region in British Columbia has patients with COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 878 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,164 in the Fraser Health region, 126 in the Island Health region, 181 in the Interior Health region and 58 in the Northern Health region.

"We are saddened to report five new COVID-19 related deaths, four in the Fraser Health region and one in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, for a total of 140 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to the family, friends and caregivers of these five individuals, and to everyone who has lost their loved ones.

"There has been one new acute-care outbreak at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital. In total, 15 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and five acute-care units have active cases.

“There has also been one new community outbreak with two confirmed cases at the Oppenheimer Group, a fruit and vegetable processing plant in Coquitlam. The public health investigation is ongoing, active contact tracing is underway and the plant remains open at this time.

"Public health teams are also continuing to provide support for community outbreaks in the poultry sector, at the Mission Institution and with those connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta.

“We must continue to be measured and thoughtful with each step forward in our COVID-19 recovery. The new outbreaks demonstrate that there continues to be risk of COVID-19 in our communities.

“We want a strong start, and to do that we need to stay local, stay apart and stay 100% committed to working together.

“Our provincial parks are now open for day use. Spending the day in a nearby park is a great way to stay close to home this weekend and put our safe social interaction ‘rules’ into action.

“Today, education and child care guidance was also released to allow schools to once again begin in-class learning on June 1 and prepare for a full return in September.

“Our schools and daycares will look and feel different, but they will operate in the safest way possible for everyone – for staff, students and families.

“From the start of this pandemic, British Columbians have demonstrated incredible compassion and care for our health-care workers, seniors, Elders and our communities. The result has been the flattening of our curve. Let’s keep working through this together.”

Learn More:

To participate in the BC Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 survey, Your story, our future, visit:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/covid-19-survey 
For those who cannot complete the survey online, or need assistance in another language, call 1 833 707-1900 to take the survey over the phone. Assistance is available seven days a week between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. (Pacific time), in 150 languages.

For more information on BC's Restart Plan, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/bc-restart-plan

For B.C.'s surgical renewal plan, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/conducting-health-research-evaluation/reports-publications

For the slides presented at the May 4 media briefing, visit:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/modelling-projections

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

For guidance and information on self-isolation and self-monitoring, including how to isolate if you live with others, visit:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/self-isolation

For the provincial health officer's orders, notices and guidance, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/phoguidance

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

To learn where, when and how people with symptoms can be tested, visit:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/testing

The COVID-19 self-assessment app, which includes details about where, when and how to be tested, can be downloaded here: https://bc.thrive.health/

To learn more about Fair PharmaCare, including coverage, how to request an income review and the monthly deductible payment option, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Register_for_Fair_PharmaCare.pdf

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

For a Chinese translation: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/2020.05.15_New_ExistingCasesCOVID-19_CN.pdf

A backgrounder follows.