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Northern Health remains at 60 test-confirmed COVID-19 cases, provincial total now 2,479

There were 12 more cases provincially today and three new deaths
Hanna Petersen
Hanna Petersen
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Northern Health Authority. (via Hanna Petersen)

Northern Health remains at 60 test-positive cases, with 12 new COVID-19 cases announced in the region. 

Today (May 21) there were 12 new cases of COVID-19 provincially, for a total of 2, 479 cases in British Columbia, as Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, said in their COVID-19 briefing. 

Thre are 43 people in hospital, and eight in ICU.  There are 307 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 2,020 people who tested positive have recovered.

Dr. Henry added there was an additional community outbreak of the COVID-19 virus is at the medium-security Matsqui Institution.

This is the second correctional facility to have an outbreak, after a large one at the Mission Institution. There has only been one case so far recorded at the Matsqui Institution, and Henry said that the case was "identified early" and had "few risky contacts."

The number of people who have active cases of the virus has been dropping steadily. 

There were three new deaths in the past 24 hours, for a total of 152 people since the virus first started ciruculating in January. 

The breakdown of all infections by health region is:
•  887 in Vancouver Coastal Health (up two from yesterday);
•  1,223 in Fraser Health (up nine from yesterday);
•  126 in Island Health;
•  183 in Interior Health (up one from yesterday); and
•   60 in Northern Health.

Some regions have far fewer active cases than other, but Henry was clear that she would not start having different restrictions in place in different health regions. 

"We do know that people move," she said.

Seniors' care homes and living facilities remain places that house many of the cases. There are now 14 active outbreaks at those care homes, as well as three acute-care facilities. That number is down one from yesterday because an outbreak at the Windermere Care Centre long-term care facility has been declared over.

So far 537 infected people have had a connection to seniors' living facilities, including 329 residents and 208 workers. 

The outbreak at East Vancouver's United Poultry is newly considered to be over, and the plant has reopened. Outbreaks at other poultry-processing facilities that have had cases of the virus are also considered to be over.

Henry warned that there could be a second wave of the virus. She pointed to South Korea as a place that is currently battling a second wave of cases, with the outbreaks largely able to be traced back to people visiting nightclubs. While B.C.'s restaurants and pubs have started to reopen, there is not yet any clear timeline in B.C. for when nightclubs will be able to reopen.

- with files from Glen Korstrom, Business in Vancouver

gkorstrom@biv.com

@GlenKorstrom