Only seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the province on Tuesday, with no new cases reported in the Northern Health region.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic was now 2,360. The total number of cases in the north remained at 57.
"In terms of our cases, there are 397 active cases around the province," Henry said.
In Monday's briefing Henry incorrectly reported there were 634 active cases in the province, she said. On Monday there were 504 active cases.
The number of active cases in northern B.C. wasn't made available, but on Monday the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 50 people in the north had fully recovered – leaving seven active cases as of Monday.
One additional person in a long-term care home in the Fraser Health region died, bringing the provincial death toll from the pandemic to 131. No deaths linked to COVID-19 have been reported in northern B.C.
Across the province there were 63 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including two in Northern Health, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said. The number of people hospitalized in the Northern Health region was down by one from Monday, when there were three people hospitalized, including one in critical care.
Of the 63 patients hospitalized from COVID-19 in B.C. on Tuesday, 16 were in critical care, Dix said.
Provincial health authorities have learned a lot about COVID-19 and the impacts of the province's measures to combat the pandemic, but there is still more to know, Henry said.
To that end, a province-wide survey was launched online on Tuesday to gather information about how B.C. residents were impacted by the pandemic and the response to it, Henry said. That survey can be found online at www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/covid-19-survey and takes about 10 to 15 minutes to fill out, she said.
"The information we gather will help inform the decisions we make in the weeks and months ahead," Henry said.
At the end of the survey, respondents will be asked if they are willing to take part in two
other initiatives: a serology testing survey to help determine how many people have had COVID-19 and have now developed antibodies to the disease, and planning for future waves of COVID-19 using technology.
The survey is available online in English, simplified Chinese and Punjabi until May 31.
Those who can't complete the survey online can take it by phone by calling 1-833-707-1900 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. daily, Dix said. Translation services are available by phone for more than 100 languages, he added.
Results of the survey will be released in early summer, and those who are chosen to participate in the two additional initiatives will be contacted directly by email.
"I want to join Dr. Henry in encouraging people to take the survey," Dix said. "We need to learn and prepare for the future."
