B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced 43 new coronavirus cases in the province on Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,013.
Five more people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 24.
There are now 128 people in hospital, 61 of them in intensive care, as well as cases in 19 long-term care homes.
The cases that have been identified break down as follows:
- 476 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.
- 348 in the Fraser Health region.
- 67 in Vancouver Island Health.
- 107 in Interior Health.
- 15 in Northern Health
A total of 507 people have recovered from the disease.
Henry says B.C. is also investigating its first large community outbreak, which involves temporary foreign workers at Bylands Nursery in West Kelowna.
While there are 19 long-term care homes where at least one staff member or resident is affected, only two of them involve major outbreaks: Haro Park Residential Care Home and the Lynn Valley Care Centre.
Lifting of orders not coming soon
Asked about a timeline for when physical distancing could come to an end, Dix and Henry emphasized that B.C. is in it for the long haul.
“[There is ] zero chance — none — that any of the orders will be varied by the end of April,” said Dix.
“I think we’re in this for a long time.”
Henry said the virus will have to be monitored until there is a vaccine, and that there will likely be a second wave in a few weeks time.
“I do think it’s more and more less likely that we’ll be able to get back to more normal daily life, which I miss a lot, before the summer,” she said.
“I haven’t given up hope entirely that we may get a reprieve in the summer … although how much of a reprieve is yet to be seen,” she said.
Additional ventilators
Health Minister Adrian Dix said that the province has acquired 15 new ventilators, and that 15 more had been refurbished. Over the past two weeks, 83 ventilators have been added to B.C.’s health-care system.
He says there are 4,171 empty beds in the system, after the cancellation of elective surgeries across the province.
“Nobody has sacrificed more than people who are waiting for surgery,” he said. “While the surgeries have been cancelled for the moment, they have not been forgotten.”
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