15 new Covid cases in B.C.; five more deaths

British Columbia has 15 new cases of Covid-19 since Thursday, for a provincial total of 2,407.

There have been no new cases in Interior Health (still at 181), and only one new case in IH since last Friday.

There has been five more deaths, with four in Fraser Health and one in Vancouver Coastal, for a provincial total of 140.

There are 359 active cases in the province, and 1,908 people who tested positive have recovered.

Of the active cases, 51 individuals are hospitalized, 12 in intensive care.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 878 cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,164 in Fraser Health, 126 in Island Health, 181 in Interior Health and 58 in the Northern Health region.

There has been one new acute-care outbreak at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital. In total, 15 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and five acute-care units have active cases.

There has also been one new community outbreak with two confirmed cases at the Oppenheimer Group, a fruit and vegetable processing plant in Coquitlam. The public health investigation is ongoing, active contract tracing is underway and the plant remains open at this time.

Public health teams are also continuing to provide support for community outbreaks in the poultry sector, at the Mission Institution and with those connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta.

“We must continue to be measured and thoughtful with each step forward in our Covid-19 recovery. The new outbreaks demonstrate that there continues to be risk in our communities,” said provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. “We want a strong start, and to do that we need to stay local, stay apart and stay 100 per cent committed to working together.”