VANCOUVER -- B.C. health officials announced four new cases of COVID-19 but no new deaths from the disease Friday.
Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, also praised a decision by the federal government to ban cruise ships from docking in Canadian waters until October.
"This is the right thing to do for our country and our province right now to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into our coastal communities," Dix and Henry said in a release.
There are currently 228 active cases in the province, while 2,170 people who tested positive for the illness have now recovered.
The new cases bring the total of all cases in B.C. to 2,562.
The province says there have been no new community outbreaks, although health officials continue to manage outbreaks at federal corrections facilities, several poultry processing facilities and people connected to the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta.
A total of 15 outbreaks continue at long term care homes. There is still one outbreak ongoing in a hospital acute care unit.
Regionally, the total number of cases breaks down to 900 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,277 in Fraser Health, 195 in the Interior Health region, 127 in the Island Health region and 63 in the Northern Health region.
With the number of new cases steadily falling, B.C. began a restart plan May 19 that saw many businesses reopen under new health guidelines.
In their Friday release, Dix and Henry said all workplaces need to comply with WorkSafeBC's COVID-19 guidelines.
"WorkSafeBC's COVID-19 guidance has been developed through a collaboration of public health and workplace experts," they said in the release. "The comprehensive guidance balances creating opportunities to safely restart many activities and the ability to protect everyone as we do that."
While B.C. continues to see new case numbers decline, the province is still grappling with serious outbreaks and Henry is still urging caution. On Thursday, Fraser Health announced it would put in place a "Pandemic Response Director" at Langley Lodge, a care home that has seen the deadliest long-term care home outbreak in the province to date.
