Joint statement on B.C.'s COVID-19 response:
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 96 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases, for a total of 8,304 cases in British Columbia.
"There are 1,465 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 3,314 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 6,589 people who tested positive have recovered.
"Currently, 61 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 22 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 2,984 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 4,254 in the Fraser Health region, 203 in the Island Health region, 511 in the Interior Health region, 266 in the Northern Health region and 86 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
"There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 227 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There has been an outbreak in one unit at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. In total, 12 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and four acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.
"There have been no new community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events.
"Public alerts and school notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control's (BCCDC) website, as well as on health authorities' websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions to take - whether to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms.
"The start of fall is the time for all of us to regroup and reset our COVID-19 routines, and ready ourselves for the colder, wetter months ahead.
"As we move inside, the activities we choose to do and the layers of protection we use need to be adjusted to ensure we are protecting ourselves, our friends and family - especially those who are most vulnerable to severe illness.
"This means spending less time with others outside of our household bubble right now.
"We need to push our COVID-19 curve back down and keep the virus low and slow, so we can manage the many challenges that will come with the respiratory season."