One new case of COVID-19 has been reported in the Northern Health region on Thursday, on the same day that Northern Health reported there are no more active cases linked to the outbreak on Haida Gwaii.
In a joint statement released Thursday afternoon, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson said the total number of cases in the north since the start of the pandemic rose to 121. Data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control on Thursday showed there were 15 active cases in the Northern Health region.
"Today, we are announcing 80 new cases for a total of 4,825 cases in British Columbia," Dix and Gustafson said in their statement. "There are 780 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 2,574 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 3,845 people who tested positive have recovered."
Two additional people in the Fraser Health region died as a result of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the province's death toll from the pandemic to 200.
"We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement said. "Currently, 11 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, four of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation."
Dix and Gustafson reported a new community outbreak in the province at Loblaws' distribution centre in Surrey. Nine cases have been confirmed at the centre, and public health officials are screening employees on site and conducting contact tracing.
In an update on the Haida Gwaii outbreak, a statement issued by Northern Health said community outbreak measures remain in place on the islands.
"To date, there have been a total of 26 lab-confirmed cases related to the outbreak; as of today, all of the cases are now considered recovered, and there are no active cases," the statement said. "Northern Health public health staff has followed up with numerous close contacts of lab-confirmed cases, and as of today all of those contacts have completed their self-isolation periods."
Despite that, Northern Health is urging Haida Gwaii residents to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19, and self-isolate and get tested if they show signs of illness.
"Public health officials will be monitoring the situation carefully over coming weeks and will declare the outbreak over when they are confident that chains of transmission have been stopped," the statement said.
The B.C. Centre for Disease was expected to release a map with a more-detailed breakdown on cases by region on Thursday evening. This story will be updated when that information is available.
