Photo Courtesy: Province of British Columbia, Flickr
COVID Update

10 new cases of COVID-19 in Northern Health, 236 in B.C.

Aug 17, 2020 | 3:12 PM

VANCOUVER— A total of 10 new cases of COVID-19 over a three day period were reported in the Northen Health region, this afternoon (Aug.17).

The ten new cases in the north bring the total of test-positive cases to 117. Provincially, 236 new cases of the virus were announced since Friday’s last update.

Cases by Health Region:

  • Vancouver Coastal Health: 1,419
  • Fraser Health: 2,425
  • Vancouver Island Health: 154
  • Interior Health: 405
  • Northern Health: 117
  • People outside of Canada: 74

The new cases in B.C. bring the total of test-positive cases to 4,594. Two new deaths were reported, both in the Fraser Health region. B.C.’s death toll is now at 198.

There are currently a total of 743 active cases of COVID-19 in the province; four are in hospital and of those, three are in ICU. There are two new outbreaks in the health-care system, for a total of 10 outbreaks in health care. Since the start of the pandemic there have been 690 cases of the virus connected to outbreaks in health care, of those 415 have been residents and 275 have been staff.

“This pandemic is not ending soon.”—Adrian Dix, B.C. Health Minister

Health Minister, Adrian Dix was accompanied by Dr. Réka Gustafson, deputy provincial health officer and vice-president of the Provincial Health Services Authority, both saying that the pandemic is here to stay for a while.

According to Minister Dix, our “new normal” will continue into next year and into 2022.

No new community outbreaks were reported, however, community exposure events continue to be a concern. Today, Northern Health issued a COVID-19 alert after identifying a recent event in Alberta where individuals may have been exposed to the virus.

“Individuals who attended the It Is Time Canada event in Deadwood, Alberta, between July 30 and August 2, are asked to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19, and self isolate and seek testing if they begin to exhibit symptoms.”—Alert by Northern Health

“Contact tracing and testing has also identified that some individuals may be at risk of secondary transmission, from contact with cases related to attendance at the event,” continues the alert.

Northern Health has identified 17 lab-confirmed cases to date; 10 of which remain active cases (seven recovered); 12 of that total number are related to attendance at the event, while the remainder are believed to be from secondary exposure.

3,653 people have recovered from COVID-19 in B.C.

Photo Courtesy: Province of British Columbia, Flickr.