Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy minister of health, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia:
"Today, we are announcing 161 new cases, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 9,381 cases in British Columbia.
"There are 1,302 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,114 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 7,813 people who tested positive have recovered.
"Currently, 63 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 16 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
"Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 3,440 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,791 in the Fraser Health region, 209 in the Island Health region, 535 in the Interior Health region, 318 in the Northern Health region and 88 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
"There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 238 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Surrey Memorial Hospital and the outbreaks at Yaletown House and Peach Arch Hospital have been declared over. In total, 14 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and three acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
"There have been no new community or school outbreaks, although there continue to be exposure events around the province. Public alerts and school notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control's (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities' websites.
"For many months now, COVID-19 has been a part of our communities. As a result, we have had to adapt and learn new ways to protect ourselves and each other.
"Despite the uncertainty and stress that has come with this, there is much that is in our control. Take confidence in knowing that always using our layers of protection reduces our risks, helps to break the chains of transmission and keeps the virus under control.
"We are all facing the same obstacle. With kindness and compassion to friends and neighbours, and steadfast commitment to doing the right thing, we will get through this together."
UPDATE on IH numbers: