British Columbia’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided a COVID-19 update for a four-day stretch, which includes a record-high increase for one of those 24-hour periods.
Between Friday and Saturday, there were a record-high 170 new cases that were identified among people in B.C. Between Saturday and Sunday, there were an additional 159 new cases; from Sunday to Monday there were 119 cases; and on Monday leading to today, there were 101 newly identified patients.
“The numbers are higher than what we would like to see,” said Henry.
The province’s top doctor noted that the increase in cases, compared to weeks past, is in part due to labs processing a backlog. Labs processed about 6,000 more tests, which equates to basically an extra day’s worth of tests.
Henry noted that the positivity rate has remained stable. Over the past long-weekend, it was at 1.39 per cent, which is below its benchmark of two per cent.
Henry said the backlog has now been cleared and health officials are working to make sure it stays that way. It’s a concern, because she doesn’t want residents to be discouraged from getting tested due to the long wait times to receive results.
In the same four-day stretch, five more people have died. Two of the victims were in the Fraser Health region and three in Vancouver Coastal Health region, increasing the death toll to 250. In addition, 472 patients have recovered in that four-day period..
Currently, there are 1,476 active cases in the province. At least 3,618 people are currently in self-isolation and being actively monitored by public health officials since they were in contact with a patient. Of the 1,476 active cases, there are 77 people in hospital and 24 in intensive care.
