THE LATEST:
- 738 new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Wednesday, along with 13 more deaths.
- There are now 29,086 confirmed cases in the province to date.
- 294 patients are in hospital with COVID-19, including 61 in intensive care.
- 371 people have now died of the disease.
- Masks are mandatory for everyone in indoor public spaces and retail environments.
- Anyone who does not comply could face a $230 fine.
British Columbia added another 738 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as the province continued to urge everyone to pause social interactions and said there could be fines for those who don’t wear masks.
The Fraser Health region continued to drive the spike in new infections, with 443 or 60 per cent of Wednesday’s new cases.
Data correction
On Wednesday, Provincial Health Minister Dr. Bonnie Henry also announced a data correction for results from Fraser Health over the past week due to an data glitch.
Daily numbers from Fraser Health changed from Nov. 16 to Nov. 24. On Tuesday, 678 cases were originally announced for the region. The accurate number is 432. That meant the overall number of new cases in B.C. on that day was revised down to 695 from what was reported as a record high of 941.
The B.C. government has published a full list of corrected data online.
Overall, the corrected data still showed the province’s COVID-19 curve trending up, but at a slower rate than originally reported.
Fraser Health spike ‘didn’t happen’: health officer
Fraser Health Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin said the correction shows that the case numbers in that health authority have stabilized rather than spiking.
“That spike […] didn’t happen. Our case counts are fluctuating at around 500 cases a day. That number has been stable for a couple of weeks,” she said on CBC’s The Early Edition.
Brodkin said the majority of transmission in Fraser Health continues to be in private homes, with individuals becoming infected in the community and passing the virus on to their household contacts. She said transmission is also occurring in essential workplaces and gyms, and that in 20 per cent of cases the source of transmission cannot be identified.
But she said there has been no transmission as a result of community events like Diwali, and that contact tracers are still able to find 95 per cent of contacts within 24 hours.
“The current restrictions are working. The exponential climb has stopped,” she said.
Brodkin said the glitch in reported numbers happened as a result of an error with a lab information system, and was a one-time incident that was “identified quickly and has been corrected.”
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What’s happening elsewhere in Canada
There have now been more than 348,944 cases of COVID-19 in Canada.
A vaccine is expected to become available in the coming year, but Canada has not yet specified how it will be distributed, aside from a promise to work with provinces and territories to buy cold storage.
The federal government has procured 358 million doses of vaccine from seven companies, an insurance policy of sorts in case some of the vaccines in development prove to be ineffective in clinical trials.
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
Common symptoms include:
- Fever.
- Cough.
- Tiredness.
- Shortness of breath.
- Loss of taste or smell.
- Headache.
But more serious symptoms can develop, including difficulty breathing and pneumonia.
What should I do if I feel sick?
Use the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s COVID-19 self-assessment tool. Testing is recommended for anyone with symptoms of cold or flu, even if they’re mild. People with severe difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, difficulty waking up or other extreme symptoms should call 911.
What can I do to protect myself?
- Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. Keep them clean.
- Keep your distance from people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
- Wear a mask in indoor public spaces.
- Be aware of evolving travel advisories to different regions.
More detailed information on the outbreak is available on the federal government’s website.
