No new COVID-19 deaths in B.C. while number of new cases remains low | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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No new COVID-19 deaths in B.C. while number of new cases remains low

Dr. Bonnie Henry June 15, 2020.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Government

When left unchecked a small cluster of COVID-19 can surge and start sparks and spread like wildfire, so follow the rules, B.C.'s top doctor warned as the number of cases continue to spike in other areas around the globe.

"It is easy sometimes when we are in this place that we're in to lose sight of the fact that this pandemic is far from over," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said today, June 15, announcing 36 new cases, and no new deaths, from last Friday to Monday. 

"There continues to be no effective treatment, and the virus will continue in our communities, for many months to come."

The reason B.C. has largely flattened the curve is that residents have been doing their part to adopt measures to keep COVID-19 from spreading.

"We've put an immense effort into staying safe across the province. And despite this, we know that several thousands of people have experienced illness, including some severe illness (and) many families have lost loved ones," Dr. Henry said.

"As we look ahead our objective is to keep the cases low to minimize the impact on our communities so that we can start getting back to other parts of our life."

That means keep washing hands, keep your distance from others and keep social activities to a minimum. Also, if sick stay home.

Public health is doing its part,  actively containing any clusters, following up with people who have been diagnosed and making sure that anybody who has symptoms is tested rapidly.

And Dr. Henry said things won't open right away and large gatherings won't be sanctioned in the immediate future either.

"We're keeping closed those things that we know lead to the rapid spread and sometimes very dramatic outbreaks," she said.

"We are slowly easing restrictions that are safe to lessen and keeping measures in place to contain further spread."

That said, Dr. Henry acknowledged that it's hard to keep it in mind as normal life activities resume, particularly with travel restrictions posed to lessen in the days ahead as a second incubation period comes to an end.

"We know as more of us go to work and go to school that the risk increases that someone will inevitably bring the virus into our group, and we have seen that happen," she said.

"We have seen that happen in other countries around the world. Look at South Korea and Singapore, Washington State. Many of the US states are starting to see a resurgence."

In B.C. there have also been clusters, where people have gathered and somebody has inadvertently spread it to many of their close contacts and family members.

In British Columbia there have been 2,745 COVID-19 cases to date. That includes 934 people in the Vancouver Coastal health region, 1,420 in the Fraser Health region, 130 people in Vancouver Island health region, 195 people in the Interior Health region, and 65 people in Northern Health.

There are 182 active cases, 13 of which are in hospital, and four are in critical care.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Kathy Michaels or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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