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 announcing 139 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases. We are also reporting 40 historic cases that were tested between Aug. 11 and Sept. 16 for people who did not have personal health numbers. All these cases have been previously investigated and managed by Vancouver Coastal Health, but had not been entered into the data system. This brings our total to 7,842 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 1,803 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,075 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 5,797 people who tested positive have recovered.

“Currently, 59 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 20 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 2,817 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,007 in the Fraser Health region, 196 in the Island Health region, 492 in the Interior Health region, 244 in the Northern Health region and 86 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

“There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 223 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility (second outbreak) has been declared over. In total, 10 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and five acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

“There have been no new community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events.

“Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) website, as well as on health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions to take – whether you need to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.

“For schools, public health teams will contact individuals through contact tracing. Schools will continue to issue alerts when a school exposure has occurred and action is required. Supporting these protocols, the BCCDC website and health authorities are also publishing notifications.

“We need to push the COVID-19 curve back down and we have the knowledge, the tools and resources to do just that. Always using your layers of protection and choosing to stick with your ‘safe six’ will help all of us this weekend and every weekend ahead.

“The cases we are seeing today are a direct result of how we spent our Labour Day long weekend. Let’s break the chain of transmission and turn this trend around.

“No one intends to pass the virus onto friends or family, but it is very easy to do. It can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to develop and in that time, we can inadvertently spread it to others.

“That is why the actions we take as individuals today are so important to the well-being of our communities tomorrow. Let’s choose safe, let’s choose small and let’s choose to protect the people we care about most.”

Quick Facts:

• Assisted living, long-term care homes and seniors’ rental buildings with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks are as follows:
  • Vancouver Coastal Health
    • OPAL by Element assisted-living facility
    • Point Grey Private Hospital long-term care facility
  • Fraser Health
    • Bear Creek Villa independent-living facility
    • Cherington Place long-term care facility
    • Evergreen Hamlets long-term care facility
    • Kin Village assisted-living facility
    • Milieu Children and Family Services Society community-living facility
    • New Vista Care Home long-term care facility
    • Normanna long-term care facility
    • Rideau Retirement Centre independent-living facility

Learn More:

For a listing of the community notifications, including school notifications, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/public-exposures

To find the provincial health officer's orders, including amended orders from last week, 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

For the last modelling information presented on Sept. 3, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/COVID19_Going_Forward_Sept_2020.pdf

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 second monthly progress report on B.C.’s surgical renewal plan, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/2020_surgical-renewal-commitment-progress-report-June-July-2020.pdf

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