There are 53 new cases of COVID-19 and 1 new death from the virus in BC today, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 1,066. Of those cases, there are now 497 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.
There are currently 142 virus patients in hospital and 67 of those people are in critical care.
In today’s briefing, both Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix said that while people should expect the disruptions to ordinary life caused by physical distancing measures to continue for a while, they are heartened by the responses they have seen to them so far.
Their remarks follow BC Premier John Horgan’s announcement yesterday that he was extending the province’s state of emergency with no definite end date.
Henry praised some of the innovative ways of staying virtually connected she has learned about and Dix pointed to reduced traffic on roads and ferries as evidence most people are doing what they need to and staying home.
Responding to a question about concerns about the lack of widespread testing, Henry maintained that the province is targeting its tests not solely because of concerns about capacity — but because at this stage, they should be concentrated where they are most effective. She highlighted the fact that BC’s per capita testing numbers are comparable to jurisdictions like South Korea, which has been hailed for its approach to testing.
Henry also announced that the province will be posting several of the ethical frameworks it is using to inform its decision making, including guidelines related to duty to care and the allocation of personal protective equipment. Guidelines for the allocation of scarce resources like ventilators are in the final stages of development.
Also today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that parliament will soon be recalled to pass additional measures to provide relief from the economic consequences of the pandemic.
Despite the positive signs they have been seeing, both Henry and Dix emphasized that people need to continue following the directions of public health authorities to their utmost, as widespread compliance will have a critically important effect on the pandemic in BC.
“We can’t stop now. We just cannot stop now,” Dix said.
“So today and every day in this effort, our BC task is simple: dig deeper, work harder, keep working together, keep physical distance, stay 100 per cent committed.”
Stay up to date on UBC information related to COVID-19 by visiting ubyssey.ca/covid-19, the websites of the BCCDC, the Public Health Agency of Canada or the World Health Organization. The province has set up a dedicated COVID-19 phone line at 1-888-COVID19 or text at 1-888-268-4319. For updates on UBC’s response to COVID-19, visit ubc.ca/campus-notifications/