Deadliest day of pandemic in B.C.: 13 COVID-19 deaths, 738 infections

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C. recorded its deadliest day yet in the pandemic with 13 people losing their lives to COVID-19.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also reported Wednesday another 738 people have been infected with the virus.

The number of patients in hospital has broken another daily high with 294, with 61 in the ICU.

No new outbreaks were reported for the first time in weeks, and the one at Royal Columbian Hospital is over.

There are still 57 active outbreaks in health-care facilities.

No new Health Care facility #COVID19 outbreaks. This is the first time in weeks this has been the case

Outbreak OVER at
Royal Columbian Hospital

Still 57 active outbreaks in care facilities: 52LTC/ 5 Acute
No new community outbreaks
Community outbreak OVER at:
MSJ Distribution

— Lasia Kretzel (@lkretzel1130) November 25, 2020

Henry again said the majority of new cases were from the Fraser Health region, but she also issued a data correction for that area spanning from Nov. 17 to 24. While some days the number was higher than initially reported, Tuesday’s provincial total of 941 was actually 706 following the updated data in Fraser Health.

For those interested here’s the data
date/real # (reported #) (prov corrected)
16/324 (461)
17/ 343 (484)
18/537 (481)
19/417 (308)
20/610 (294)
21/634 (488) (prov corrected 859)
22/525 (469) (prov 692)
23/432 (347) (prov 679)
24/443 (678) (prov 706)#bcpoli @NEWS1130 #covid19

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) November 25, 2020

Rapid testing, vaccine on the horizon

Henry noted a number of rapid tests have been received from the federal government, including Abbott’s ID NOW.

“We have received 131 of the machines and 27,000 tests. However, as you can tell that would not be enough, for example, to do all of our health care workers in long-term care even once,” she said. “At this point, and we are working on how we can test deploy those machines to help us understand when outbreaks are happening when people need to be tested rapidly in the community.”

Dr. Henry says BC has received some rapid #COVID19 tests from Ottawa but not enough to test all health care workers. Is only for symptomatic people for now.
Test isn’t as reliable in the cold as it would be in lab
Rapid test not being used in professional sports/film industry

— Lasia Kretzel (@lkretzel1130) November 25, 2020

Another 500,000 antigen tests have also been acquired, Henry said, adding all the tests still need to be done by a health-care professional and are limited.

“So right now we’re limited in how we can use these, they are also only licensed for use in people who are symptomatic,” she said. “These tests are things that we can use to rapidly assess whether it’s COVID causing those symptoms or not.”

While the province is working on how best to use the tests, such as testing symptomatic people in long-term care and on the Downtown Eastside, Henry said they aren’t that reliable. She also clarified these are not the same tests being used in film production or in the NHL.

Dr. Henry says BC has received some rapid #COVID19 tests from Ottawa but not enough to test all health care workers. Is only for symptomatic people for now.
Test isn’t as reliable in the cold as it would be in lab
Rapid test not being used in professional sports/film industry

— Lasia Kretzel (@lkretzel1130) November 25, 2020

Henry said more tests will be arriving, and she hopes to see other types of rapid testing get approval for asymptomatic testing.

She touched on positive vaccine news and announced Dr. Ross Brown, vice president for Vancouver Coastal Health’s pandemic response, will be leading B.C.’s vaccine program with Henry and the deputy minister.

They’ll be in charge of getting the vaccine to British Columbians as soon as it’s available.

“Hopefully, as early as January,” Henry said.

It will take time for the province to get doses when they become available, so those most at risk will be prioritized to get vaccinated first, Henry said.

Even so, she said the province doesn’t know how many vaccines it will receive, so there are still unknowns when it comes to distribution.

“When in doubt, rule it out”
Health Minister @adriandix‘s latest saying to get ppl to reconsider any plans they had for the next two weeks. Stay home. If you have any doubt that what you are doing goes against health orders, don’t do it (things like parties, travel plans, etc)

— Lasia Kretzel (@lkretzel1130) November 25, 2020

In the meantime, she urged everyone to continue with COVID-19 health orders and reach out to loved ones virtually to check-in.

“We need to look — each of us — at ourselves, and we need to look deep,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said. “We must force COVID-19 to loosen its grip. And that is a critical, critical aspect to what we’re doing.”

Current COVID-19  health orders run out Dec. 7. Henry said by then, the province will know what needs to be done next.