BC confirms record-high 203 coronavirus cases in one day

Health officials in British Columbia have announced 203 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of known cases in the province to 12,057.

In a statement on Wednesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that broken down by health region, this equates to 4,215 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 6,517 in the Fraser Health region, 244 in the Island Health region, 632 in the Interior Health region, 361 in the Northern Health region and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There are 1,766 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 4,294 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Currently, 70 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 21 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been two new COVID-19-related deaths for a total of 256 deaths in British Columbia.

There have been three new healthcare facility outbreaks at Three Links Care Centre, Fort Langley Seniors Community and Baillie House. The outbreaks at Harrison West at Elim Village and White Rock Seniors Village have been declared over. In total, 18 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

There has been one new outbreak at École de l’Anse-au-sable school in Kelowna with three members of the school community confirmed positive for COVID-19. Public health teams have directed approximately 160 members of the school community to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. Interior Health will provide ongoing updates as the investigation continues.

A total of 9,993 people who tested positive for the virus have recovered.

“Many of the new cases and recent community clusters of COVID-19 are directly connected to weddings, funerals and celebrations of life – times when we traditionally gather with family and friends,” said Henry. “With COVID-19 still in our communities, we have seen that even small gatherings are risky right now. Inside or outside, large space or small, the fewer the faces the better.”