Health authorities in B.C. are reporting eight new COVID-19 infections across the province, while 190 cases remain active as of Thursday, June 18th.
So far, B.C. has a total of 2,783 total cases, 2,425 of which have fully recovered.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, said that no new deaths have been attributed to the illness on Thursday, keeping B.C.’s death toll at 167. No COVID-19 related deaths have been reported since Friday.
Meanwhile, the Interior Health region has two new cases and sits at 197 in total for the time being.
Currently, six outbreaks remain in B.C. health care facilities, with an outbreak at a hospital in Mission and a long-term care facility in Abbotsford. Dr. Henry said that it is important to be as safe as possible around these facilities.
“As these healthcare outbreaks demonstrate, this virus can quickly spread, and often undetected. That is the challenge that we face with mild symptoms or early on in the illness, people may not know that they are infectious to others, and this can lead to multiple cases in multiple locations very quickly until it’s recognized,” said Henry.
Henry said that regulations around healthcare facilities are strict and may be tough for many people, but they are in place to protect vulnerable populations.
“We understand that the restrictions, on visitors in particular, comes at a very high cost, both for the residents and for their family and loved ones,” said Henry. “Every person that enters a facility increases the likelihood that this virus enters with them, regardless of the safety precautions that are taken.”
Henry added that health authorities do not anticipate the virus to go away any time soon.
“We have done an amazing job here in British Columbia in bending our curve, but we have not yet, nor is it likely that we’ll be able to eliminate the virus completely from our communities,” said Henry.