Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks at a media conference on COVID-19, Monday, April 6, 2020.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Province of B.C.

B.C. appears to be flattening the curve faster than other provinces, a fact that provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said can likely be chalked up to luck and timing.

There have been 63 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C. since Friday afternoon and one death.

That raises the number of confirmed cases in B.C. to 1,266, which shows a slower rate of growth than other areas. The total number of deaths has risen to 39.

“We took a lot of measures early,” Dr. Henry said during the April 6 press conference.

“We were one of the first provinces having cases… We did widespread testing and putting out sparks related to people coming from other countries and bringing it with them.”

That, in large part, could be because of timing.

In Ontario or Quebec spring break was two weeks earlier and as easterners came back from their holidays, Henry was hearing reports that they were bringing illnesses with them and pandemic protocols had yet to be put in place.

That wasn’t the case in B.C. By the start of spring break, federal and provincial efforts were already underway to contain the spread and that's what's showing through today.

“Part of it was the system we had in place and part of it was luck and part of it was timing,” she said.

While there was some good news, Henry was quick to temper it with a warning that it’s not a pass to resume regular activities.

“The percentage of new cases is slowing, they’re bending and it’s a testament to the effort everyone is making,” she said.

But, she said, we need to focus on doing everything possible to break lines of transmission across B.C.  because people are still getting very ill, they’re still dying and social distancing measures are still required to get through this successfully.

In fact, this weekend’s death was the youngest case of a fatal case in B.C.

“Young people are not immune to this,” she said.

A 40-year-old man died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, which is the youngest COVID 19 fatality in B.C.  

There are now 1,266 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C. Of those, 783 people are considered to be fully recovered.

There are 140 people in hospital, including 72 in intensive care or acute care units.

There are 586 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 450 in Fraser Health, 128 in Interior Health and 23 in Northern Health and 79 cases on Vancouver Island.

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