VANCOUVER -- Three more people have died from the novel coronavirus in B.C., and there are 50 new test-positive cases, health officials announced Monday.
The update from Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry covered two days of COVID-19 case numbers since there was no update given on Sunday.
From Saturday to Sunday, 39 new cases were detected, and an additional 11 patients tested positive from Sunday to Monday.
The total number of people who have died from the virus in B.C. is now 103, and 1,190 people are considered fully recovered. The number of patients in hospital sits at 97, and of those, 36 people are in critical care.
B.C. continues to deal with a number of community outbreaks, including one at Superior Poultry in Coquitlam, where 25 cases have been detected. Thirty-four cases have also been detected at the United Poultry facility in Vancouver. There are 118 cases at Mission Institution, with 106 inmates and 12 correctional staff who have tested positive for the virus.
The health authority also announced new cases of COVID-19 at two care homes in Abbotsford. A resident of Valhaven Home, a long-term care facility operated by Tabor Home Society, has been infected, as has a staff member at MSA Manor, a long-term care facility operated by Maplewood Care Society.
Eleven cases associated with the Kearl Lake project north of Fort McMurray have now been identified in B.C. Anyone who has returned from that camp has been ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.
"I had identified that this was an issue because we have close ties between B.C. and Alberta around this movement of people for this essential work," said Dr. Henry.
"We continue to have cases reported in B.C. and in other provinces in Canada and Alberta that have been associated with the facility in Kearl Lake and we need people to be very aware of that."
The province's total number of test-positive cases now sits at 1,998.
However, despite the community outbreaks, Dr. Henry said that there is clear evidence that the extreme public health measures that have been taken in B.C. are working to help stop the spread of the virus.
"Safe physical distancing and self-isolation requirements have slowed the rate of transmission and we are now seeing a decrease in numbers," she said.
She also noted that the expansion of testing has helped find more people who have the virus, the vast majority of whom have been linked to known outbreaks, which she said is critical in tracking the transmission of COVID-19.
"This is the work that we will need to do: the surveillance, the contact tracing, the testing for the weeks and months to come," she said. "We cannot allow hotspots to flare up and to affect our communities."
Dr. Henry said that plans are being developed in British Columbia to eventually ease restrictions but that time is being taken to "do them right."
"We are getting close… to that time where we can start to open up," she said.
While the province has heard from many businesses that are eager to open up again, Dr. Henry urged people to have patience and that a provincewide, "made-in-B.C." plan is in the works with more information to be released in the coming days.
"We are now making plans to ease restrictions with the understanding of what we might face in the coming months," she said.
In order to ease restrictions, the province needs to know that businesses are looking after their teams, which includes ensuring that employees will not be penalized if they stay home because they are sick, Dr. Henry said. She described this measure as "critical" for the coming months.
"Protecting your employees protects your business and protects all of us," she said. "How you do that is to ensure employees can safely do their jobs while they're at work."
Dix acknowledged the steps that other provinces are taking right now around reopening businesses but emphasized that B.C. would have its own strategy.
"What we are doing is succeeding in flattening the curve, and it makes possible what we may be able to do in the coming weeks and months in terms of opening things back up but it requires a continuing commitment," he said.
On Monday, Ontario released its multi-step COVID-19 reopening plan, but it offered no specific dates. Quebec also announced that it plans to reopen its elementary schools and daycares on May 11, but only if the number of COVID-19 infections in hospitals remains stable.
Dr. Henry had said previously that she wanted to see at least a couple of days without any new cases of the virus before easing restrictions.
"Nobody wants to see a resurgence, so we are watching very carefully," she said Monday.
