New COVID-19 cases pushes BC past 75,000 mark; Kootenay/Boundary reducing numbers
By Nelson Daily Staff
On Thursday, Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, reported an increase in COVID-19 cases — 617 new cases — including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 75,327 cases in British Columbia.
While the report is from the past 24 hours, and is mostly due to an increase in the Fraser Health Region where 342 new cases were reported and 146 for Vancouver Coastal, the Interior Health region appears to be handling the pandemic better, including the Kootenays were only a few cases were reported according to the BCCDC weekly Geographic Distribution by local health area of case residence map from February 7-13 released this week.
Interior Health reported 17 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
The map shows only two cases reported during that period in the Kootenay/Boundary region — three if Golden is included in the count.
The other two cases were reported in Windermere and Kimberley.
Fernie, a recent hotspot in the province, recorded no new cases as well as Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, Grand Forks, Kettle Valley (Rock Creek), Creston and Cranbrook.
Revelstoke and Merritt remained the hotspots in Interior Health, reporting 22 and 26 cases, respectively.
The BC Center of Disease Control map showing the number of cases in the province between February 7-13, 2021. — BCCDC graphic
Thursday, Dr. Henry said there are 4,348 active cases of COVID-19 in the province with 224 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 60 of whom are in intensive care.
The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Dr. Henry said there have been four new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,321 deaths in British Columbia.
She said there have been new health-care facility outbreaks at Mission Memorial Hospital and Fleetwood Villa as well as a community outbreak at the Simon Fraser University Childcare Centre.
"COVID-19 continues to challenge all of us, which is why taking care of our physical and mental well-being is so important – to get us through the difficult days and get to the brighter days ahead,” Dr. Henry said.
"We remind everyone about the importance of using all of our layers of protection: maintaining a safe distance from others, washing our hands regularly, staying home when we are ill, using a mask in all public spaces and having robust COVID-19 safety plans in all businesses.
Dr. Henry said equally important is the need to ensure you are following all provincewide public health orders and restrictions – especially with the uptick in cases in the Lower Mainland and northern region.
"We all know what we need to do,” Dr. Henry said.
“Until we have widespread vaccine availability, these small steps make a big difference in helping to keep all of us safe."
Update on Interior Health outbreaks:
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Outbreak declared at The Florentine in Merritt. There is one resident case connected to this outbreak. LINK
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Carrington Place in Vernon has two cases: one resident and one staff.
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Highridge/Singh House group home in Kamloops has 13 cases: five residents and eight staff.
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Westsyde Care Residence group home in Kamloops has 30 cases: 16 residents and 14 staff, with one death connected to this outbreak.
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Royal Inland Hospital has 105 cases: 36 patients and 69 staff, with three deaths connected to this outbreak.
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Brocklehurst Gemstone long-term care in Kamloops has 32 cases: 24 residents and eight staff, with two deaths connected to this outbreak.
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Creekside Landing long-term care in Vernon has 40 cases: 25 residents and 15 staff, with one death connected to this outbreak.
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Noric House long-term care in Vernon has 67 cases: 39 residents and 28 staff, with 10 deaths connected to this outbreak.
