BC health officials to provide COVID-19 update following record-high weekend cases

Nov 3 2020, 4:51 pm

Health officials in British Columbia are set to provide an update on COVID-19 on Tuesday afternoon, following a record-high number of cases over the weekend.

During a joint press conference on Monday, Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson and BC Health Minister Adrian Dix announced 1,120 test-positive coronavirus cases — the province’s highest-ever three-day case count.

There were 352 cases reported from Friday to Saturday, 389 from Saturday to Sunday, and 379 from Sunday to Monday.

There were also six more deaths over the weekend, for a total of 269 deaths in the province since the pandemic began.

Dix also expressed his disappointment at the crowds that gathered at Vancouver’s entertainment district on Halloween night, calling the partiers’ actions “simply disgraceful.”

“All of us could see what was going on on Granville Street. It was on TV. It was on social media,” he said. “I can imagine the frustration of the millions of British Columbians who are following the rules.”

He added that the gathering would be reviewed but also pointed out that epidemiological data suggests gatherings in people’s homes are driving the current surge of infections, and those can’t be visualized as easily as a crowd of costumed people on a downtown street.

Vancouver police received 800 calls on Halloween night, and Surrey RCMP said they received 900.

With files from Eric Zimmer and Megan Devlin

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