BC health officials confirm 7 new cases of coronavirus in the province

After health officials in BC confirmed on Monday that a senior resident at a BC care home was the first person in Canada to die in connection with the coronavirus, provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday afternoon that seven new cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) have now been detected in the province.

Henry said two of the new cases are associated with the care home where the resident passed away. “Both of these cases are healthcare workers who were working in the area of the outbreak,” she said.

Both workers are “now in isolation at home,” and there has been “a number of testing being done on people with symptoms,” said Henry.

She noted, however, that there are “no new cases in residents” of the home.

The care worker who was the initial case identified at the residence was “admitted to hospital overnight” and is in “stable condition.”

In the meantime, “everybody in the facility is being monitored and assessed, and those who have symptoms are being tested for COVID-19.”

Henry added that the “investigation continues” as to how the virus “got into the population” at the care home.

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Three of the cases detected today are travel-related. “One of them is a woman in her 60s, who was on a tour in Egypt,” says Henry.

Another “close contact” of the woman who was also on the tour is being tested and “may well test positive as their symptoms develop, and that would not be surprising.”

Another travel-related case is a man in his 40s who returned from travel to Germany, said Henry. “He is in isolation at home.”

The final travel-related case, said Henry, is related to the Grand Princess cruise, “prior to the one that was just repatriated today.” This case is “a man in his 90s who was on that cruise, who has tested positive and is in isolation at home.”

All five of these cases are located in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Henry said two other cases “that have just come to light today” are also in the Fraser Health region.

One is a man in his 90s who is currently in hospital. “We’re not clear yet where his contact might have been,” said Henry.

The other is a man in his 40s. “Again, a community case that we do not yet know the link, and he is in isolation at home.”

These new cases bring the total number of cases identified in the province to 39 – although there have been some improvements in the overall situation.

“Two patients have now been released from hospital,” said henry. ‘A woman in her 80s who was at Vancouver General Hospital and a man in his 60s who was in hospital in the Fraser Health region.”