The death toll from coronavirus in B.C. has reached seven, with 83 new cases reported as the province declared a public health emergency Tuesday afternoon.
The declaration orders bars and nightclubs in the province to close and could restrict restaurants to serving takeout or delivery food only.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported three more deaths since Monday's update and there are two new cases of COVID-19 are in northern B.C. That brings the total to four in the Northern Health region and 186 provincewide.
"This declaration of an emergency allows me to be faster, more streamlined and nimble," said Henry at Tuesday's media conference in Victoria.
Six of the seven deaths had ties to the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver and the other, a man in his 80s, was in the Fraser Health region.
Of the total number of cases confirmed by health authorities so far in the province, 116 are in Vancouver Coastal jurisdiction, 47 are in Fraser Health, 12 are in Island Health and seven are in Interior Health
Henry said for restaurants to remain open for dine-in customers they must be able to provide enough social-distance separation to prevent possible transmission of the virus through a sneeze or a cough.
Henry took the extra step Tuesday to order all bars and nightclubs to close because it is unlikely they can a maintain the required one-metre distance between people to minimize the risk of transmission.
The province has received a healthy supply of swabs for testing for COVID-19 to keep up the increasing numbers of the pandemic. Health Minister Adrian Dix spoke of the need to remain vigilant with hand-washing to avoid community transmission and to avoids visits with seniors or people with compromised immune systems.
