B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix looks on as provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on COVID-19 on July 6, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C.
December 08, 2020 - 4:47 PM
There have been 566 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. in the past 24 hours and 16 people have died from the disease.
In the Interior Health region, there are 74 new cases but the death toll remains at six. Currently, 637 people are in isolation, 17 are in hospital with three of those in intensive care, according to an IH media release.
Interior Health has confirmed there are now 27 residents and one staff member at the McKinney long-term care home in Oliver that have tested positive for the virus. More targeted testing is underway at the care home and the IH outreach testing team has been mobilized. There has been no transmission to South Okanagan General Hospital.
At Mountainview Village in Kelowna, there are now seven cases. Three cases have been reported at Village by the Station in Penticton and an outbreak at the Royal Inland Hospital patient care tower construction site is over.
In Revelstoke, the cluster has grown to 50 people including 14 active cases who are self-isolating. IH said 36 other people have now recovered.
In a joint statement, provincial health officer and health minister Adrian Dix said a total of 38,718 people have contracted the virus in B.C. since the start of the pandemic.
To date, 543 people have died in the province.
There are no new health-care facility or community outbreaks.
"While we have seen the start of encouraging trends in our COVID-19 curve, the number of new cases and people with serious illness requiring care in hospital remains high,” the joint statement said. “This is why the public health orders and restrictions remain in place and why we must continue to stay local and keep to our households through the holiday season.
"Let's make the coming weeks our 'winter break' by breaking the chain of transmission in our province. We can still be festive and enjoy the season, but let's ensure it is only with our immediate household or, if you live on your own, with one or two close contacts.”
There are 136 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 297 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 11 in the Island Health region, 48 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
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