Province extends social gathering limits to Feb. 5
`Now is the time to stay the course. We know what we need to do': Dr. Henry
A B.C.-wide ban on social gatherings and events has been extended through to Feb. 5 as a post-holiday rise in COVID-19 cases kicks in.
B.C. reported 761 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, leading officials to reiterate warnings to not travel, to continue physically distancing and to “hold the line” of provincial health orders.
“In the last days, we have seen a slight increase in our cases. And our curve is trending upwards,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.
Health officials have extended the provincewide bans on social gatherings and events at both private and public venues. Restrictions on sports are also continued.
Thursday numbers were higher than in recent days. On Tuesday, a total of 428 cases were reported, and 625 new cases were reported on Wednesday.
“Now is our time to stay the course. We know what we need to do to bend that curve factor. We have been successful in doing that prior to this winter break, and we need to do that again,” Henry said.
B.C.'s first case of the U.K. variant of COVID-19 has now infected two other household contacts, health officials added.
Henry said a Vancouver Island resident who had been in isolation since returning from the U.K. with the new variant has infected two other household contacts, but that transmission is believed to be limited to the household.
The new cases bring B.C.'s total number of reported cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic to 56,015.
The numbers reported Thursday were, for the first time, from an automated system in which COVID-19 results are sent directly to provincial authorities from the lab where the result was determined. Numbers had been routed through regional health authorities before reaching provincial health officials.
“As a result, there will be some changes to how the data will be reported going forward to streamline one aspect of what is a challenging, complex and labour-intensive process,” Henry said on Thursday.
Henry said numbers would now reflect the lab result date — when the result was determined, instead of when it was reported to health authorities — and said historical data dating back to January 2020 would also be adjusted to reflect that date.
Across B.C.'s five health authorities, four different information systems were being used to collect data, adding to the lag time between a positive case being detected and when it was counted in provincial tallies.
“Importantly, what remains the same is every case is still counted, and every person who is positive is still notified as soon as possible, and contact tracing and followup, and particularly to identify new clusters and outbreaks, continues as usual,” said Henry.
Officials also said figures reported daily would now cover the 24hour period of the previous day, instead of the noon-to-noon reporting period used so far.
Health officials will also begin providing weekly updates on vaccination progress.
Of the new cases reported Thursday, 484 were in the Fraser Health region, 96 in Interior Health, 23 in Island Health, 64 in Northern Health and 94 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Meanwhile, 372 people are hospitalized, of whom 74 are in intensive care. Eight people have died in the past day due to the virus: five in Fraser Health, one in the Interior and two in Vancouver Coastal Health.
In total, 970 people have died due to the virus in B.C.
There remains 6,349 active cases, while 47,374 have recovered and are no longer in isolation. However, 8,849 British Columbians remain under public health monitoring. A total of 41,064 people have also received their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine to date.
“This is our riskiest time right now. We cannot let our guard down. This vaccine is just beginning,” said Henry. “This is our winter, but we know that spring will come.”