VANCOUVER -- Aug. 11 update: The dates of these possible exposures have been expanded to include Aug. 7.
Vancouver Coastal Health has updated the dates and times of public exposures to COVID-19 at two Yaletown restaurants that it announced Saturday.
The health authority said Saturday that West Oak Restaurant on Mainland Street and Pierre's Champagne Lounge on Hamilton Street were each the site of possible exposures to the coronavirus last week.
On Sunday, VCH said the exposures at the two restaurants happened during operating hours between July 31 and Aug. 3, and again on Aug. 6.
The health authority said the possible exposures at each restaurant are believed to be low-risk, but they're still asking anyone who was at either venue on those days to self-monitor for symptoms.
Saturday's announcement comes just a day after VCH announced a public exposure at the Pumpjack Pub on Davie Street, which occurred between midnight and 2 a.m. on Aug. 1. The risk in that situation was also deemed to be low, according to the health authority.
As of Friday, there were 386 active confirmed cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia, the highest number the province has seen since mid-May. Friday also marked the largest single-day increase in confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the province since April, with 53 more cases added to B.C.'s total.
Health officials have attributed much of the recent growth in cases of the virus in the province to private parties at which physical distancing rules were not observed.
"We’ve had, and Dr. (Bonnie) Henry spoke to this yesterday, individual parties where dozens of people have gotten sick from COVID-19,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix on Friday. “What’s happening is people are having private parties. They’re going. They don’t know everyone there. Sometimes alcohol is involved. And that means the potential for people to get sick is greater.”
