North Coast Review
[This story originally appeared on The North Coast Review, a blog based in Prince Rupert that contains “items of interest to those living on the North Coast of BC.”]
The daily case reports of COVID from Dr. Bonnie Henry crossed over the 100 case mark today, though active cases did make for a decline on the day. Sadly, an additional death was recorded in the Lower Mainland area.
The Province’s top public Health official relayed a range of data, as well as some thoughts on how British Columbians may approach Thanksgiving this year.
“Today, we are announcing 105 new cases, including three epi-linked cases, for a total of 9,013 cases in British Columbia. There are 1,268 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,337 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 7,485 people who tested positive have recovered,” she said.
“Currently, 69 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 20 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. There has been one new COVID-19 related death in Fraser Health, for a total of 234 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
Across the province there have been to date, 3,286 cases of COVID-19 reported in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,594 in the Fraser Health region, 206 in the Island Health region, 531 in the Interior Health region, 309 in the Northern Health region and increase of six from Monday.
Eighty-seven cases of COVID have been recorded in people who reside outside of Canada.
With Thanksgiving coming up in early October, Dr. Henry observed that smaller is better and that a virtual celebration may be the best option as we look to reverse the current direction of the COVID curve.
“We have had to change our special celebrations and gatherings to keep the people we care about safe. This same approach is how we need to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. Rather than travelling to see friends or hosting a large family dinner, make it small this year and plan to connect virtually instead,” she said.
Dr. Henry went on, “Although this may not be what we want to do, let’s not lose sight of the fact that by making these sometimes difficult choices now, we will be healthier and stronger tomorrow. By choosing to stay home and stay small, we are reducing the potential for transmission of COVID-19 and protecting the people in our family and community who are most at risk. Keeping a safe physical distance, visiting from afar, using our layers of protection and always remembering our safety basics is how we show we care. Let’s do the right thing and support those around us to do the same.”
Tuesday also saw the Province of British Columbia extend the State of Emergency in the province and taking the provisions in place forward until October 13, 2020.
