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 nine new cases, for a total of 2,550 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 244 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 2,144 people who tested positive have recovered.

“Of the total COVID-19 cases, 37 individuals are hospitalized, seven 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 899 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,267 in the Fraser Health region, 127 in the Island Health region, 194 in the Interior Health region and 63 in the Northern Health region.

“There has been one new COVID-19 related death in the last day in the Fraser Health region, for a total of 162 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 outbreaks. In total, 14 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care unit have active outbreaks.

“Public health teams continue to provide support for community outbreaks at federal corrections facilities, the processing facilities in the poultry sector and for individuals connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta.

“We are moving forward carefully into Phase 2, assessing our progress week by week, and we are encouraged by what we have seen so far.

“COVID-19 has a two-week incubation period, which means any new cases that are a result of the easing of restrictions will start to appear over the coming week.

“With this in mind, let’s continue to take advantage of parks and other activities closer to home, and look to increase social interactions only after fully considering the risks to you and your family.

“Once we have a good understanding of how we are doing in mid-June, we’ll have the data we need to determine our timing for further actions.

“This slow and thoughtful approach is our ‘new normal.’ It is grounded in what we know about COVID-19 today and will continue to be adapted as we learn more in the weeks and months ahead.”

Learn More:

For the Your story, our future survey, visit: www.bccdc.ca/covid19survey.
Those who cannot complete the survey online or need assistance in another language can call 1 833 707-1900 to take the survey over the phone. Assistance is available seven days a week between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Pacific time), in 150 languages.

For more information about BC’s Restart Plan, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/restartbc

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/2020.05.27_New_ExistingCasesCOVID-19_CN.pdf

A backgrounder follows.