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 525 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 19,239 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 5,133 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Currently, 142 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 46 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

“There are 9,781 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 13,704 people who tested positive have recovered.

“We have had 159 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 325 in the Fraser Health region, seven in the Island Health region, 27 in the Interior Health region, seven in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

“There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 284 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have two new health-care facility outbreaks at Holyrood Manor and Burnaby Hospital. In total, 33 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and six acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

“We need to break the chains of transmission and slow the surge of COVID-19 cases – especially in the regions and locations of highest spread.

“The regional health authority restrictions are a short-term pause on non-essential activities to ensure we can maintain capacity within our health-care system and continue important essential activities.

“We need to slow down and take a step back to allow us to safely move forward in the weeks ahead.

“A growing number of people in British Columbia are now self-isolating at home, away from their work, school, friends and family, which in turn is creating unnecessary financial and emotional strain for far too many.

“We can turn this trend around and the time to do that is now.

“Over the next two weeks, and especially tomorrow on Remembrance Day, let’s honour our veterans for all that they have done for our province and nation. Let’s recognize the sacrifices and hardship they faced and overcame by making our own small sacrifices right now.

“While the ceremonies may be remote, the poppies virtual and our legions closed this Remembrance Day, we can still show our appreciation, in a safe and respectful way, to the men and women who have proudly served our nation.

“Thank you to our veterans for your service and thank you to everyone in British Columbia for doing your part to protect our veterans, our Elders and communities.”

Learn More:

To find the PHO’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

Guidance on new restrictions for those in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health regions: http://gov.bc.ca/regionalrestrictions

Businesses in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions with group physical activities can submit their plans to: ehvc@vch.ca or worksitefitnessplans@fraserhealth.ca

BCCDC’s safer celebrations guidance, including for Remembrance Day:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/social-interactions/safer-celebrations

BCCDC national and international COVID-19 epidemiological data:
https://bccdc.shinyapps.io/covid19_global_epi_app/

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

A backgrounder follows.