Health officials in British Columbia have announced 119 additional cases of COVID-19 in their final update of the week.
There have been no additional deaths from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy minister of health Stephen Brown in a written statement Friday.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 10,185 cases of COVID-19 recorded in B.C. and 245 deaths.
There are currently 68 people in hospital with the coronavirus, including 19 in intensive care. The rest of B.C.’s 1,406 active cases of the disease are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Henry and Brown also announced a new COVID-19 outbreak at Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre in Delta. Earlier in the day, Fraser Health had confirmed that a staff member at the long-term care facility had tested positive for the virus.
There are now 15 long-term care or assisted-living homes in B.C. with ongoing coronavirus outbreaks, as well as three acute-care facilities.
While there have been no new reported community outbreaks, Henry and Brown said exposure events around the province continue.
Health officials are currently monitoring a total of 3,180 people in B.C. who have had exposures to known cases of COVID-19.
As the Thanksgiving long weekend begins, Henry and Brown encouraged British Columbians to do their part to keep that number from growing.
“Let’s do all we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19 by ensuring we always use our layers of protection this long weekend,” the pair said in their statement. “The care we show each other today will help protect all of us tomorrow, so let’s make this Thanksgiving about safe connections and safe celebrations.”
In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, they also offered their thanks to all British Columbians, but especially essential workers, “for doing so much to keep our communities safe and strong.”
Since the pandemic began, most of B.C.’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been located in the Lower Mainland. As of Friday, there have been 5,253 confirmed cases in the Fraser Health region and 3,728 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in B.C., there have been 559 cases of COVID-19 in Interior Health, 331 in Northern Health and 225 in Island Health. The province has also recorded 89 cases among people who reside outside of Canada.
