VANCOUVER -- With health-care workers at the frontlines of the novel coronavirus pandemic, B.C.'s top doctor says she's often asked how many have been affected by the virus.
During a briefing where she released new modelling data on COVID-19, Dr. Bonnie Henry said that as of April 28, health-care workers represented about 21 per cent of the virus cases reported in the province.
Henry said those numbers include anyone that's in "one of the regulated health professions," including dentists, dental assistants, nurses, physicians, physiotherapists and many others.
Of the 428 health-care workers who have tested positive for the virus, 33 were hospitalized and one died.
It's not clear, however, how these health-care workers got the virus.
"Many of these people were affected at work, either from a colleague or from acquiring this from caring for patients with COVID-19," Henry explained.
"But it also includes people whose exposure may have been through travel themselves. Through attendance at, for example, the dental conference that we know about or from exposure to family members who may be positive for COVID-19."
