B.C. adds 272 new COVID-19 cases, grants powers for region-specific health orders

Oct 30, 2020 | 4:14 PM Pete McIntyre

The Province of B.C. is reporting 272 new cases of COVID-19 Friday (Oct. 30), including seven within Interior Health.

The new cases increase B.C.’s total to 14,381, spread through B.C. as follows:

4,664 – Vancouver Coastal (up by 76)
8,219 – Fraser Health (up by 183)
256 – Vancouver Island (unchanged)
741 – Interior Health (up by 7)
412 – Northern Health (up by 6)
89 – Reside outside of Canada (unchanged)

There are 2,390 active cases in the province, including 78 people in hospital, of whom 25 are in intensive care.

Interior Health says there are 87 cases active in the region, none in hospital.

One more person has died of COVID-19, lifting the province’s death toll to 263.

There are 6,003 people under active public health monitoring due to exposure to known cases of the virus.

A total of 11,670 people are considered fully recovered from COVID-19, or 81 per cent of all recorded cases.

There has been one new community outbreak at Suncor Firebag Oil Sands. There are three new health-care facility outbreaks: at Hawthorne Seniors Care Community, CareLife Fleetwood and Queen’s Park Hospital unit 3C NMSK 2.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry granted new powers to regional medical health officers to issue stricter public health orders for their jurisdictions.

“(Regional medical health officers’ orders) may add further prohibitions, or impose more restrictive limitations or conditions, with respect to gatherings and events in the geographic area of the province, or a part of the geographic area of the province, for which the medical health officer is designated,” states the new order, posted Friday afternoon.

No such regional orders had been issued as of Friday.