No new cases of COVID-19 were reported in northern B.C. on Friday.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix issued a joint statement on Friday, rather than hold a live briefing. Across the province there were 29 new cases of COVID-19 detected, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 1,853.
"Every health region in British Columbia has patients with COVID-19: 767 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 772 are in the Fraser Health region, 114 are in the Island Health region, 158 are in the Interior Health region and 42 are in the Northern Health region," the joint statement said. "We are saddened to report four new COVID-19 related deaths in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions, for a total of 98 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones."
A total of 1,114 people in the province have fully recovered from COVID-19. A total of 33 people in the Northern Health region had recovered as of Thursday, according to information released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
On Friday 96 people across the province were hospitalized from COVID-19, including 41 in intensive care. Three people in the Northern Health region were hospitalized and in critical care on Thursday, the B.C. CDC reported.
"There have been no new outbreaks in long-term care, assisted living or acute care in the last day. In total, 20 facilities and three acute-care units have active outbreaks, with outbreaks declared over at 10 care facilities," the joint statement said. "Public health teams are also providing support to a number of community outbreaks, and we expect to continue to see more cases in the coming days as contact tracing continues."
Two employees at Superior Poultry in Coquitlam and 35 employees at United Poultry in Vancouver have tested positive so far for COVID-19. Both facilities have been shut down.
"Additionally, there are 10 confirmed positive cases connected to the Kearl Lake (oil sands) project in Alberta and 78 inmates and staff confirmed positive at the Mission Institution federal correctional centre," the joint statement said. "Maintaining a safe physical distance, washing hands frequently and staying home when ill continue to be the best things we can do to protect our communities and continue to bend the curve."
