It being Monday there were a lot of themes to be reviewed from the opening Public Health Update for the week from Doctor Bonnie Henry and Minister Adrian Dix, from the statistical overview of the weekend case counts which totalled 2,020 over three days, to the sad reminders of the 35 British Columbians who have passed away from COVID.
As well the two top public health officials explored the topics of upcoming vaccine opportunities, the prospects of a very small Christmas for many across the province and the announcement of the extension for many of the Public Health measures now in place.
“Today, we are reporting on three 24-hour periods. From Dec. 4 to 5, we had 647 new cases. From Dec. 5 to 6, we had 726 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 647 new cases.
This represents 2,020 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 epi-linked cases, for a total of 38,152 cases in British Columbia.
There are 9,380 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 359 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 77 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Currently, 10,747 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 27,287 people who tested positive have recovered.
There have been 35 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 527 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Across the province, the regional health authorities have released the following results:
304 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,362 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 45 in the Island Health region, 203 in the Interior Health region, 106 in the Northern Health region an increase that brings the total number of cases in the northern region to 1,084 cases since January.
There were No new cases of COVID recorded in people who reside outside of Canada.
Dr. Henry offered up a glimmer of hope for the future with word of the prospect of vaccine delivery not too far away for British Columbians, but also dashed some of the hopes for travel this holiday season, urging British Columbians to reduce any travel through the month and into January.
“As we all do our part now with COVID-19, we can be encouraged to know that the start of vaccine availability is days away. This is a welcome milestone that we can all celebrate.
The orders that we have had in place have started to have an impact on the transmission of the virus in British Columbia. However, transmission remains high and we need to continue our efforts to reduce social interactions and stop the spread.
The provincial health officer’s orders restricting all gatherings and events have today been extended through to Jan. 8, 2021, at midnight. This includes gatherings in people’s homes and in public venues.
At this time, we are also strongly recommending against any travel other than what is essential for work or medical care.
The order extension and travel requirement are necessary steps to help us get through the remainder of the year and protect those who are most vulnerable.
We understand that, for many of us, this will mean celebrating the important December holidays in a different, smaller way than what we are used to. We can still be festive, but let’s ensure it is only with our immediate household.
As hard as this may be, let’s remember that the sacrifices we make now will protect our loved ones and countless others throughout our province. Your efforts and sacrifices are making a difference.
Staying small and staying local over the holidays is what we all need to do. It will help to ease the pressure going into the year ahead and will also help to protect our province until vaccines are widely available.”You can review Monday's update from the Doctor and Health Minister here.
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