BC's restart plan framed by 23 new COVID cases recorded for Wednesday report

The main focus for today was that of the deliver of the British Columbia restart plan by Premier John Horgan, who outlined the phased in approach that residents of the province will see starting as soon as next week.

Prior to the 3 PM news conference from Premier Horgan, the daily review of COVID cases in the province was delivered, with a spike upwards noted from yesterdays numbers with 23 new cases of COVID listed for the day bringing the total to 2,255 cases to date.

Of the totals to date 852 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,046 are in the Fraser Health region, 124 are in the Island Health region, 179 are in the Interior Health region and 54 are in the Northern Health region, that a jump of three from yesterday.

Public Health Officer Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix observed how they were: "saddened to report three new COVID-19 related deaths: one in the Island Health region and two in Vancouver Coastal Health region, for a total of 124 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones."

The pair also outlined how in the last day, there were no new long-term care or assisted-living facility outbreaks. In total, 17 facilities and five acute-care units have active outbreaks, with outbreaks now declared over at 17 care facilities.

To date, 1,494 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered. Of the total COVID-19 cases, 74 individuals are hospitalized, and 19 of those are in intensive care.

The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

With few comments to make on the day in anticipation of the Premier's presentation to come, both Minister Dix and Doctor Henry noted how immediate changes to current measures are not quite on the horizon.

“We are not yet ready to make any changes to the measures we have in place – just this week, new outbreaks have emerged. Without continued vigilance, hot spots will quickly flare. We must chart a safe path forward together – one that will protect our province and give us the confidence that we can stay safe while increasing our social connections. 

As Premier John Horgan has said, finding the right balance in this next phase of COVID-19 requires all us to work together, to follow our playbook principles and remember the basics of keeping a safe physical distance from others, with fewer faces and open spaces. 

We must also continue to show kindness and compassion to those around us, as we remain 100% committed. It is in all of our hands. Let’s remember to wash them.”

You can review the full statement for Tuesday here.

The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, the string of statements that came quickly at the end of the week can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee

Ottawa Observations

Victoria Viewpoints

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.