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No new cases of COVID-19 in north, province looking to ease restrictions

There were no new cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region from Saturday to Monday, according to a joint statement released on Monday by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
Bonnie Henry Web

There were no new cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region from Saturday to Monday, according to a joint statement released on Monday by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

The total number of cases in northern B.C. remained at 43. Three people in the north were hospitalized as a result of the disease, Dix said. All three were in intensive care.

Province-wide there were only 50 new cases reported over the two-day span, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 1,998, Henry said. 

Across B.C. there were 97 people hospitalized with COVID-19, of which 36 were in critical care. Three additional people died across B.C. from COVID-19 since Saturday's update, bringing the death toll of the pandemic to 103.

"Despite the community outbreaks we've seen... we're seeing a decrease in numbers," Henry said. "We are getting close to the time when we can open up."

A total of 1,190 British Columbians have recovered from COVID-19, including 35 in the Northern Health region.

Most new cases detected in the province were linked to known outbreaks, despite wider availability of testing, she said.

With testing over the weekend, the number of cased linked to two outbreaks at poultry plants in the Lower Mainland grew to 59, she said. The number of people infected in the outbreak at the federal Mission Correctional Institution remained at 118 – 106 inmates and 12 staff.

One more confirmed case of COVID-19 has been linked to the outbreak at the Kearl Lake oil sands project in northern Alberta, bringing the number of British Columbians infected in that outbreak to 11. Henry previously reported that some of those cases were in northern B.C., however the exact number of cases linked to Kearl Lake in the Northern Health region was not released.

"We know there are several hundred people (in B.C.) who are associated with that project. We have been given a list of names and are trying to work our way through that," Henry said. "We continue to have cases in British Columbia and other parts of Canada... associated with that facility."

The information provided to employees has been hit-and-miss, Henry said, and provincial officials didn't have contact information for all of the names they were provided. Earlier this month, Henry issued a public health order requiring anyone returning from the Kearl Lake project to self-isolate for two weeks.

Henry said provincial health officials are now looking at when and how to relax restrictions on businesses and individuals. She said she expects some students will return to classrooms before the end of the school year, but no date to go back has been put in place yet.

"We're now making plans to ease restrictions," Henry said. "We are taking the time to do them right. We can't allow hotspots to flare up and effect our communities."

One of the things health officials are looking at is where transmissions tend to occur, she said. Several localized outbreaks have been linked to workplaces, she said.

"To ease restrictions we need to know that businesses are looking after (their) teams as well," Henry said. "Protecting your employees is protecting your business. We need to ensure employees are not penalized for staying home when they're sick."