Friday March 13, 2020 ~ BC
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
There are 64 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in BC it was announced today March 13 by BC Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry in a joint update session this afternoon with BC Health Minister Adrian Dix. That’s up from 53 yesterday.
“We are announcing 11 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 64 cases in British Columbia,” said Dr Henry. All those new cases are the Vancouver Coastal health region.
Among the new 11 cases, there is a cluster of three cases at Lions Gate Hospital, one additional case at Lynn Valley Care Centre, five more related to travel (Iran, Egypt tour of the Nile, Philippines, and Mexico), and two more ‘under investigation’. Dr Henry noted that Philippines and Mexico are two new areas of transmission showing up in BC.
Of the already announced cases in BC, two remain hospitalized.
Yesterday it was recommended that people not take any non-essential travel outside of Canada, including to the United States. Yesterday it was asked that anyone who returns from travel outside of Canada should self-isolate at home for 14 days upon their return. Today that was made mandatory. Flight crews and long-haul truckers are exempt from that requirement, Dr Henry said today.
As of March 13 World Health Organization (WHO) Report #53 statistics show 132,758 confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, with 51,767 of those outside China which was the epicentre of the disease. In total there have been 4,955 deaths due to COVID-19 (now 1,775 outside China). Now 122 countries have reported confirmed cases.
The next BC Health update to media will be at noon on Saturday March 14.
=== LINKS
Pandemic Plan is in place in BC, says Premier (article about 2-hour BC Health media announcement on March 6, 2020)
COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and planning materials: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/pandemic-influenza.
Recommendations on protecting yourself and your community, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-(novel)
For more information and latest updates on COVID-19, follow the BC Centre for Disease Control on Twitter @CDCofBC or visit http://www.bccdc.ca/