Dr. Bonnie Henry May 26.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Government

For the first time in a while, B.C. had no new COVID-19 deaths, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced today, May 26.

There were also only 11 new cases, raising the total number of COVID-19 diagnoses to 2,541 since the pandemic began. There are currently 258 active cases and of those 37 are in hospital and seven are in critical care.

While things are looking up in what both Dr. Henry and provincial health minister Adrian Dix keep calling "our COVID-19 fight" it's not to say that we are out of the woods and the resumption of old activities with Phase 2 of B.C.'s restart have caused some concern.

"I understand that with this transition there comes a lot of anxiety and some uncertainty and some frustration, for some, that we are moving too slowly, and for others frustration that we are moving too fast."

Dr. Henry said it is a balance and it is very hard to achieve.

"It has been a learning experience for all of us, in the past week, trying to find that right balance," she said.

Today, however, no new deaths reported should offer the incentive to follow directions and adhere to the restrictions, so that can continue for weeks to come.

"(We want to do this so) no more families have to deal with the loss of somebody they love," she said. "I encourage everybody to continue to show patience and understanding and have confidence that what we are doing is the best... that we can to protect our families and our communities. That means that it might be slower than many people want. And it might be faster than others."

That means being conscientious about the contacts made.

"Right now, our focus is on that," she said. "It's ensuring that every case that arises in our community we can follow, we can test, and we can trace the people they've been in contact with."

Those people will then be tracked over the period of the incubation period, to make sure that if they do develop symptoms, they have access to the health care they need.

Dr. Henry went on to say the measures in place are the best things we can do to slow the spread and all British Columbians have done the heavy lifting.

"We're now one week into phase two, with more people, more businesses open, but we cannot go back to our pre-COVID days," she said. "We need to find that balance that allows us to get things moving... but not to go back to the place where this virus can take off and infect a large number of people in a short period of time."

That said, there will be more cases and public health is prepared for it, so long as the transmission rate is slow.

That will require maintaining social distance, washing hands, staying home when sick and wearing a mask when needed. She stressed that masks are a tool that will be layered with other things, but it's not something is required. It's for short-term use or when there are no barriers provided.

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