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There are now 9,524 active cases in the province. Most are self-isolating at home, but 346 residents are currently being treated in hospital, including 83 in intensive care.
Another 11,947 people are currently under public health monitoring due to close contact with a known COVID case.
“We are not yet through this storm,” Henry said. “We continue to have many new cases, and even in the last 24 hours, people have lost parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends.”
Residents of long-term care facilities account for more than 1,000 active COVID-19 cases in B.C, Henry said, but in what the provincial health official called “heartening news”, outbreaks in the provincial healthcare system appear to be slowing, with just one new outbreak declared in the last 48 hours and many others close to being declared over.
The outbreak at Burnaby Hospital is finished, Henry announced, diminishing the number of healthcare facilities contending with outbreaks to 64.
The provincial health officer reminded, however, that there are more than 600 long-term care facilities in the province that don’t have outbreaks.
“Protecting them is our important role,” she said.
Henry urged British Columbians to continue social distancing and staying at home, amid excitement over the province’s impending immunization plan, which will kick off next week as healthcare workers begin to receive their shots.
“There will be a time when we can take our masks off, when we can hug our loved ones, when we can travel to see friends and family,” she said. “We will get there. But we are not through this storm yet.”
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