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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has warned that B.C.’s COVID-19 curve is starting to worsen, with the possibility of an explosive growth in cases.
On Monday, Henry reported 102 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days, and no new deaths.
She said there were 253 active cases of the disease in B.C., of which 16 were being treated in hospital (including four in intensive care.)
“We are starting to see an upward bend of our curve,” Henry said. “We do have a possibility of having an explosive growth if we are not careful.” The disease reproductive rate was now higher than one, where one sick person infects more than one other person.
Henry noted that people who had tested positive this month were having a greater numbers of contact with other people compared to cases detected last month. B.C.’s Restart Plan was upgraded to phase three on July 1, allowing more social contacts.
There have been 3,300 cases reported since the first case was identified in late January in a Vancouver resident who had returned from a business trip in Wuhan, China, where the disease originated. There have been 189 deaths.
