Dr. Bonnie Henry May 12, 2020.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Government
May 12, 2020 - 3:40 PM
B.C. posted one of its best days in terms of new COVID-19 diagnoses with only seven new cases being reported today.
That brings the total to 2,360 people who have tested positive in the province and 397 of those cases are active, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said today, May 12.
Of those, 63 people are in hospital, and 16 are in critical care or ICU. Within the Interior Health Region, only two people with COVID-19 are hospitalized.
There was also another death today, raising the provincewide total to 131.
Dr. Henry said that we now have 1,832 people that are fully recovered from COVID-19.
While the progress seems apparent, Dr. Henry said that she understands there is still some concern about how the province will safely transition to phase 2, as the restart gets underway.
“Many are understandably keen to get back to work and just as many, from the notes that I received, are fearful, and they're concerned,” Dr. Henry said.
“They're concerned that we're going to see a surge in cases that we're going to end up undoing the work that we have done.”
Germany, for example, recorded the first increase in new coronavirus infections in four days May 12 as it gradually relaxes restrictions on daily life. There were 697 additional cases in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, up from 555 a day earlier. That brought the total to 172,576. Fatalities rose by 92 to 7,661.
This is something that Dr. Henry said yesterday, that she and all health officials are watching closely and that’s why the emphasis is on physical distancing and hand washing.
“We need to, all of us, be thoughtful,” she said. “We are taking this slowly in how we're rolling out the phases, and we need you to do that, too. The orders and restrictions that we have put in place, are to keep all of us safe. And that remains our number one priority.”
WorkSafeBC and the public health community are working on guidance for a number of sectors and it's going to take time to roll out support, as these orders are lifted.
“At the heart of that is controlling this virus, for us to to get our society moving again our economy moving again, we need to maintain control of COVID-19,” she said. “So we all need to continue to do our part.”
As that happens, Dr. Henry said that she wants to know more about people’s experience during this pandemic and a survey has been launched to get that information.
“We have learned a lot about the virus, we have learned a lot about transmission, we learned a lot about how to care for people, how to manage outbreaks, but there are still many many questions that we still need to answer, and understand.”
Today, the province launched a survey to gather feedback on your experiences and your actions in the COVID-19 pandemic so far here in British Columbia.
This information will help inform the decisions that we make in the weeks and months ahead.
The survey, which you can find here, will be open until May 31.
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