Near 700 new cases of COVID reported BC wide, adjustment to measures on outdoor worship services noted

There was not much in the way of relief from the recent pace of daily COVID case counts with British Columbians once again accounting for nearly 700 new reports over the last 24 hours. As part of today's statement from Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, the Public Health officer noted of some amendments to measures in place for outdoor worship services in the province, while still highlighting the dangers associated with indoor services.

“Today, we are reporting 682 new cases, including 15 epi-linked cases, for a total of 93,253 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 5,409 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 9,488 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 86,307 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Of the active cases, 314 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 83 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. 

There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 1,438 deaths in British Columbia."

Across the province, the Health Authority's reported the following totals:   229 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 333 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 19 in the Island Health region, 76 in the Interior Health region. Of note, 36 of the newly reported Interior Health cases are historic cases from 2020 identified through a data review.

There were 23 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Northern Health region which brings the total number of cases in the Northern Health region to 5,599 cases since January of 2020. 

There were also two new cases of people in British Columbia who reported COVID and who reside outside of Canada. 

The two health officials noted that there have been 144 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in our province, for a total of 1,510 cases. Of the total cases, 171 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 1,357 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 43 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 110 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant. 

As the vaccination program continues, the pace of vaccination to date shows that 557,508 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,168 of which are second doses. Vaccine appointment bookings are now open for people 77 or older and Indigenous peoples over 55.

Doctor Henry and Mr. Dix also noted that there has been a modification on measures related to outdoor worship services.

“In addition, the provincial health officer’s order on gatherings and events has been amended today to provide a variance for outdoor worship services. 

Worship service organizers must ensure COVID-19 safety plans are in place for all outdoor services and all attendees follow those plans. 

While we are immunizing more people every day, and in parallel slowly turning the dial on the restrictions we have in place, we must remember the risk for all of us remains high, particularly with indoor activities – whether for work or social reasons."

More on those measures can be explored here.

Further notes on Tuesday's report can be reviewed here.  

BC CDC Data for BC For March 23 2021

BC CDC Data for Northern health For March 23 2021

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, those past advisories  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