FILE – B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks on pandemic response at the B.C. legislature, May 6, 2020. (B.C. government)

FILE – B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks on pandemic response at the B.C. legislature, May 6, 2020. (B.C. government)

B.C. records 3 new COVID-19 deaths as total test positive cases top 3,000

Province identified 18 new coronavirus cases

  • Jul. 8, 2020 12:00 a.m.

The province recorded three new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday (July 8) as it passed 3,000 total cases since the pandemic began earlier this year.

There were 18 new cases of the virus in B.C. as of Wednesday, according to a joint statement from Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. That bring’s B.C.’s total number of test positive cases to 3,008 since January when the first one was identified. Of those cases, 162 are active, 17 are in hospital and three are in ICU.

A total of 186 people have died due to the virus.

Health officials reiterated that although B.C. loosened restrictions and entered Phase 3 two weeks ago, residents and tourists alike still need to be cautious.

“Fewer faces, bigger spaces is the safest approach, because we know crowded, closed spaces where people may be in close contact with each other are higher-risk environments for all of us and need to be avoided at this time,” officials said.

The warning comes as Vancouver Coastal Health issued its second COVID-19 exposure alert for a strip club on Tuesday. The health authority said someone with COVID-19 was at the No. 5 Orange on the night of July 1, and warned anyone there at the time to monitor themselves for symptoms.

READ MORE: Second Vancouver strip club hit by possible COVID-19 exposure event

READ MORE: Recent COVID-19 hotspots show ‘cases can reemerge at anytime’ in Canada, feds warn


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