The outbreak of COVID-19 at Mission Correctional Centre among inmates and staff produced another spike in the provincial total, with the 40 additional positive tests reported on Saturday
Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry announced a total of 95 new COVID-19 cases, none of which occurred in the Northern Health region, for a total of 1,948 cases provincewide since the outbreak began in B.C.
As of today, the totals for each of the health regions are: Northern Health, 42; Vancouver Coastal Health, 778; Fraser Health, 853; Vancouver Island Health, 115; and Interior Health, 160.
Henry explained part of the reason for the large one-day increase at the Mission jail was the extensive testing being done on inmates and staff. So far, 106 inmates and 12 staff members have tested positive, and two inmates remain hospitalized.
“We have been systematically testing inmates and staff and that’s why we’re seeing that large upward trend,” Henry said. “From the very beginning we knew it was going to be a challenge with the federal correctional facility, it’s a very difficult environment to effectively isolate people who are ill from others.
“I think we are making headway in dealing with this issue. There are currently only two inmates in hospital at this time, but it is a very challenging virus and it reflects how difficult it is to effectively isolate people who sick within that type of environment. So we’re hopeful with the new infection and control measures that have been put in place in this facility that we’ll make sure ongoing transmission is stopped.
“But we know with the incubation period being up to two weeks it’s going to take some time before we see if that’s been effective or not.”
Two additional deaths occurred from Friday to Saturday, one of whom was an elderly Indigenous woman, the first COVID-19 death of a member of a B.C. First Nation community. That raised the death toll for the province to 100. The woman who died is from the Namgis First Nation on Comorant Island in Alert Bay, north of Vancouver Island.
“This is a tragedy that’s beyond just us, it’s a tragedy for all of us,” Henry said. “Our elders in our First Nations communities are culture and history keepers. When they become ill and they die, we all lose, and I want you to know that we feel that collective loss today.”
There are now long-term care facility 19 outbreaks in B.C., 11 of which have been declared over.
Sixteen of the new cases showed up at Superior Poultry in Coquitlam, up from two confirmed cases the previous day. The total at the now-closed United Poultry processing plant in Vancouver remained at 35. Eleven B.C. cases were tied to the Kearl Lake oilsands project north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
There are now 96 people hospitalized with COVID in B.C. and 41 of them are being treated in critical care or intensive care units. Henry said 1,037 people have fully recovered.
