B.C. adds record-breaking 911 COVID-19 cases, 11 more deaths

Government won't reveal COVID polling data The B.C. government has done extensive polling on the question of reinstating public health restrictions, but has not made it public.

Victoria — British Columbia added 911 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, marking a new single-day record for the province.

The previous record of 887 was set one day earlier on Thursday. There are now 8,472 active cases of COVID-19 across B.C.

Eleven more people have also died of the virus, health officials announced, bringing the province’s death toll to 395.

There are now 301 people in hospital for treatment of COVID-19, 69 of whom require critical care. Since the pandemic began, B.C. has recorded a total of 30,844 coronavirus cases.

Three new health-care outbreaks have been declared, all in long-term care homes. At the same time, one outbreak at a care facility has been declared over, bringing the current number of health-care outbreaks to 59.

Fifty-four of those outbreaks are located at long-term care facilities, while five are taking place at acute care units.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry asked once again that British Columbians follow the temporary health measure that have been put in place, which include avoiding social events with anyone outside of your household bubble and wearing a mask in all indoor public spaces.

B.C.’s top doctor says the orders have been designed to target settings that have been the main source of recent COVID-19 cases.

“We know that some settings are more risky than others,” she said, citing indoor fitness classes, weddings and social gatherings.

“We know for example that social gatherings are riskier because it’s hard for us to resist being close to those who we know and we care for,” said Henry.

She asked British Columbians to show compassion towards people who may be unable to wear a face mask due to health conditions, which may not always be visible.

Both Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix also acknowledged that religious communities are having to sacrifice as religious services are suspended until temporary health orders expire on Dec. 7.

Henry says outbreaks have occurred in churches and other religious settings, despite those organizations having health policies in place.

“I want to be clear that none of these locations are not doing anything wrong,” said Henry, explaining that any gathering is risky right now, which is why all events have been suspended.

With cases still climbing roughly one week after the province’s new temporary health measures were put in place, B.C.’s top doctor says that health officials have not ruled out modifying or adding new health orders in the weeks to come.

She says that health teams meet daily to discuss if new or amended health measures are needed. Health officials believe that next week’s case numbers will better reflect how successful recent health orders have been, which will inform future decisions.

Of the more than 900 cases discovered Friday, 153 were reported in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and 649 were found in the Fraser Health region.

Elsewhere in the province, the Island Health region reported 27 new cases, the Interior Health region has confirmed 47 and the Northern Health region has discovered 35.

Roughly 10,430 people across B.C. are now under active public health monitoring due to exposure to know cases of COVID-19.

Since the pandemic began, 21,304 people have recovered from the virus in British Columbia.