The woman who was identified as B.C.’s first case of community transmission is a worker at the Lynn Valley Care Home, where two residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
British Columbia Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addresses the media during a news conference at the B.C. Centre of Disease Control.
B.C. health officials are dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19 at a care home in North Vancouver, as six new cases were identified in the province Saturday, bringing the number to 27.
Two of the six new cases are elderly residents of the Lynn Valley Care Centre said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer.
An emotionally shaken Henry told a Vancouver news conference Saturday that the outbreak at the care home is “very concerning” and she is worried about the families.
The woman who was identified as B.C.’s first case of community transmission of the virus works at the care home, and two of the residents have tested positive. The care worker is a woman in her 50s, who had no recent travel history.
Henry said it’s unclear if the seniors were infected from the health care worker. All of the residents, staff, and their families will be investigated, she added.
A respiratory outbreak protocol has been put in place at the care home, which includes monitoring ill residents, protective gear worn by care workers, keeping patients in isolation, restricting visits, and stopping all communal gatherings.
“It’s very hard on families and residents,” said Henry, adding that some patients have dementia, which creates more stress for the staff.
Residents of Lynn Valley are being asked to be cautious but not panic. Health officials say the virus is spread through close contact, usually between family members and “there’s no general concern” for members of that community.
She said many of the care workers are employed in multiple care homes, and this is extremely worrisome because the elderly, especially those with underlying health issues, are most at risk.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said there are more than 200 elderly residents at the long term care home in North Vancouver.
Both Henry and Dix repeated pleas for people to stay at home if they are sick, even if it is a cold.
The four other new cases are in the Fraser Health Authority. One is a man in his 50s, who recently travelled to Iran, and another is a woman in her 50s, who is a close contact of the family. Both are at home in self isolation.
The other two are a man and woman in their 60s, who had travelled on the Grand Princess cruise ship from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 in California. They are in hospital because of their age and are in stable condition, said Henry.
Only three of B.C.’s cases of COVID-19 are in hospital. One of those patients, a woman in her 80s, who was in critical condition, is now stable, said Henry.
So far, four of B.C.’s 27 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
The World Health Organization has said the fatality rate appears higher for COVID-19 (3 to 4 per cent) than for influenza, especially seasonal influenza (less than 0.1 per cent). Age is a factor.
The death rate is highest for patients ages 80 and older, at 14.8 per cent, compared to eight percent for patients ages 70 to 79, according to a study of more than 72,000 cases.
Researchers found the death rate was 3.6 per cent for patients ages 60 to 69, 1.3 per cent for patients ages 50 to 59, 0.4 per cent for patients ages 40 to 49, and 0.2 per cent for patients ages 10 to 39.
They reported no deaths among patients less than 10 years old.
Cruise ships continue to be a high-risk environment for transmission and health officials recommend reconsidering any cruise-ship travel at this time.
B.C. Premier John Horgan on Friday said the province is scaling up the province’s response to COVID-19 and the government has a detailed plan in place in the event the outbreak gets worse.
Horgan said the province is adding four additional testing labs by the end of the week, and a committee of deputy ministers has been appointed to focus on the virus.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said the global number of reported cases of COVID-19 has surpassed 100,000, with more than 3,000 fatalities. The WHO’s risk assessment for the virus globally is “very high.”
Meantime, Canadian health officials continue to stress that the risk posed by the novel coronavirus in this country remains low.
The number of confirmed and presumptive cases stood at 54 Friday, the vast majority being reported in Ontario, with 28, and B.C. with 27.
All of Ontario’s known patients had recently travelled outside the country or were in close contact with other patients who had, however, Canada’s first apparent case of community transmission was reported in B.C. this week.
A Vancouver-area woman was diagnosed with COVID-19, even though she hadn’t travelled recently and had no known contact with anyone else diagnosed with the virus.
Quebec has two confirmed cases and one presumptive diagnosis that still has to be confirmed, while Alberta has reported two presumptive cases.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam noted Friday that most of the cases in Canada have been mild, and the patients are self isolating at home. About seven people are in hospital, but she said that doesn’t necessarily mean they are severely ill, adding that Canada is well equipped to deal with the outbreak.
“We’ve been having these plans, we’ve rehearsed them, we’ve been through a previous pandemic, we’ve been through co-ordination for Ebola response, for example. So each individual player in the federal and provincial system knows how those co-ordination mechanisms work,” Tam told a news conference.
Ottawa is increasing its funding for COVID-19 research by $20 million, Health Minister Patty Hajdu announced Friday, after concluding that the $7 million it had planned to spend isn’t enough.
Outside Canada’s borders, cruise ships remain a tricky problem.
Canada has at least 60 confirmed or presumptive cases of the virus. Some of the cases were travellers who were aboard the Grand Princess from Feb. 11 to 21 during a cruise that began and ended in San Francisco.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has since been trying to locate more than 260 Canadians who were on that cruise.
And another 237 Canadians have been forbidden from leaving the ship during a subsequent cruise, as they and the rest of the passengers and crew undergo testing for COVID-19.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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