There have been 10 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. in the past day, Minister of Health Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced this afternoon (June 26).
The province now has a total of 2,878 test-confirmed cases since the pandemic hit the west coast.
In Northern Health, there are no new cases, now the 17th consecutive day with a total at 65. The last time the authority recorded a case was on June 9.
Of the number of provincial cases, there are 159 active, which also includes 17 people being treated in hospital and five in intensive care. A total of 2,545 people have fully recovered from the virus.
Dr. Henry announced there has been one new death which now brings the provincial total to 174.
There have been 969 test-positive cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 1,514 in Fraser Health, 131 on Vancouver Island and 199 in the Interior Health region.
There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at Nicola Lodge has been declared over. There are now five long-term care or assisted-living facility outbreaks.
There are also no new community outbreaks, Henry announced.
-1 new death in past day total 174
— Jess Balzer (@jessicajbalzer) June 26, 2020
-159 active cases
-17 hospitalized in B.C.
-5 in ICU
-2,545 fully recovered#COVIDー19 #COVID19BC #drbonniehenry #BC #virus #update #coronavirus #northernhealth #bcpoli #BCCDC@PGMatters
Earlier today, Henry and First Nations Health Authority acting chief medical officer Shannon McDonald met with the media to discuss First Nations response to COVID-19 and the effects the virus is having on communities as well as current precautions being taken.
Henry said residents who are planning their travels in the coming weeks need to take extra precaution in making sure not to infringe on the rights of these communities who choose to protect themselves from the COVID-19 threat despite the province-wide travel ban being lifted.
“The message to people is, know where you are going,” she said in her briefing this morning. “And this is for all communities across B.C., because we know that not just First Nations communities, but other communities as well, may be more or less prepared to welcome visitors this summer."
“So check ahead if you are going, especially if it’s a small community. Many of them are actually quite anxious and looking forward to welcoming visitors, so we have to take it upon ourselves to make sure we use our travel manners that we’ve all learned. The things we are doing at home, we need to take with us when we are travelling.”
There has been a number of First Nations communities who have expressed concerns that their voices weren’t taken into account for the decision to reopen intra-provincial travel, and that’s a concern acknowledged by Henry and First Nations Health Authority acting chief medical officer Shannon McDonald.
Both said efforts are underway to create signage and other measures to prevent visitors from accidentally stumbling into communities that are not open to the outside public, but some cases around provincial highways running through First Nations land will require more negotiations and discussions – which is ongoing, Henry said.
- with files from Chuck Chiang, Business In Vancouver
