Three more COVID-19 deaths as B.C. surpasses 3,000 cases

VICTORIA (NEW 1130) — B.C. recorded three more COVID-19 deaths and 18 new cases on Wednesday, a day after again extending the record-long provincial state of emergency.

All three deaths happened in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, bringing the total in B.C. to 186.

The new cases are mostly in the Fraser Health region and raise the provincial total to 3,008.

The province reported no new health-care outbreaks. Active outbreaks remain at two long-term care facilities — Holy Family Hospital in Vancouver and Maple Hill in Langley — and one acute-care ward.

No new outbreaks in health care, but virus is still active at #Vancouver’s Holy Family Hospital and Maple Hill long-term care home in #LangleyBC.
As @NEWS1130 reported Tuesday, anyone who spent time @Number5Orange strip club July 1st should monitor for symptoms. #COVID19 #bcpoli

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) July 8, 2020

The province added while there are no active community outbreaks, public health teams issued an alert the previous day about a COVID-19 exposure at the No. 5 Orange show lounge on July 1.

“If you have been at a location with a community exposure event, monitor yourself for symptoms, limit your contact with others, and contact 811 to arrange for testing if any symptoms develop,” says a statement from Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

“Contact tracing to contain the spread of COVID-19 requires all of our involvement to be successful.”

In an Instagram post, the show lounge said it closed its door Monday night after a staff member tested positive, but was cleared to reopen Tuesday.

RELATED:

• B.C.’s state of emergency has been extended another two weeks as the province announces 12 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday

• Possible COVID-19 exposure at Vancouver’s No5 Orange

• 19 new COVID-19 cases in B.C., two new health-care facility outbreaks

“Public alerts and the temporary closure of businesses are some of the ways public health teams are working to effectively manage COVID-19 in our communities,” says the release.

“Fewer faces, bigger spaces is the safest approach, because we know crowded, closed spaces where people may be in close contact with each other are higher-risk environments for all of us and need to be avoided at this time.”

The province advises all to support contact tracing activities by completing a personal risk assessment when deciding where to go and who to see.

“As we have seen in many other locations around the world, one slip can quickly cause a surge in new cases. We have also seen here in B.C. that our foundational rules for safe social interactions help to protect all of us,” say health officials.

The province extended the provincial state of emergency on Tuesday for two more weeks. The state of emergency began in March and has been extended to July 21.

B.C. currently has 163 active cases of the virus, with 17 people in hospital, including three in intensive care.

The recovery rate in B.C. remains 88 per cent.

Cases by health region since the start of the pandemic: 1,018 in Vancouver Coastal; 1,589 in Fraser; 133 in Island; 203 in Interior; and 65 in Northern.