B.C. has recorded a mere eight new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, as well as four more deaths due to the novel coronavirus.
There have been 2,232 confirmed cases since the contagious respiratory illness touched down in B.C., provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced on Tuesday (May 5).
The four fatalities included three within the Fraser Health Authority and one within Vancouver Coastal Health, bringing the total number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus to 121, Henry said.
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As of Tuesday, 1,472 people have fully recovered, meaning there are 639 active confirmed cases with 78 COVID-19 patients in hospital, 21 of those in intensive care.
More good news announced by health officials included that the first outbreak declared in the province, at Lynn Valley Care Centre, has officially been declared as over. Seventy-six confirmed cases, as well as 20 deaths, have been linked to the North Vancouver care home since the outbreak was first identified in early March.
The latest case count comes as Premier John Horgan is expected to unveil the province’s plan to ease current restrictions tomorrow.
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But Henry has warned that COVID-19 will likely re-surge in the fall and British Columbians should be prepared to spend their summer much differently than ever before, with some restrictions remaining in place.
When asked what she thought would look like an ideal summer in a matter of transmission rates, Henry said it is unlikely B.C. will see a time with zero cases, but that managing rates carefully is key.
“We’ve been watching people who have been ahead in their pandemic around the world and we understand that with a virus like this that can spread quite stealthily it’s very challenging unless you’re a very small island with very little external movement in and out, to actually get down to zero,” she said, adding that she doesn’t think easing restrictions on global travel is on the horizon for many countries.
“Our ideal summer is to have low levels of cases that we are able to detect; and we are able to find people quickly, prevent clusters from becoming large outbreaks,” she said, as well as “making sure we have those safe things in our restaurants, in our essential businesses like grocery stores and poultry producers so that we’re all protected.”
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