British Columbia has recorded three new coronavirus deaths, as the total number of cases in the province topped 100 on Monday.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the deaths, which bring the total number of fatalities in the province to four, are all connected to the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province is asking all U.S. citizens to stay home, although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Americans are exempt from his move earlier today to close the borders to non-citizens.
Anyone entering B.C. from abroad is being told to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
On Friday, Dix told British Columbians not to go to the United States, though officials said airline workers and truck drivers would be exempted.
“This is incredibly important for us, the vast majority of our cases have been imported cases,” said Henry.
“And we no acknowledge that there are no safe places, around the world. People are being identified across the United States, people are being identified in countries that may not recognized that they have transmission of this disease.”
B.C. also launched an online “self-assessment” tool Monday for people who are concerned and believe they need to be tested.
Thirty new cases have been identified in B.C. since Saturday, including cases in the Vancouver Coastal, Fraser and Island health regions, bringing the provincial total to 103.
Five people have fully recovered from the disease in B.C., while six people are in acute care in hospital.
Henry said the province is also extending a ban on mass gatherings to groups of more than 50 people.
That would include many of the province’s bars and restaurants, she said.
Four of the new cases are connected to a dental conference in Vancouver that a person with COVID-19 attended on the weekend of March 6 and which drew about 15,000 attendees.
Henry said anyone at the conference should self-isolate immediately.
An announcement on whether B.C. schools will reopen after spring break is expected Tuesday. The province is also consulting about whether to implement measures at B.C daycares.
Dix said B.C. will be suspending thousands of non-urgent scheduled surgeries by the end of the week to free up beds in anticipation of a possible spike in new cases. Patients who do not need urgent care are also being moved out of acute-care beds.
All provincial health authorities have also been asked to move to phase two of their outbreak response plan, Dix added
North Vancouver’s Lions Gate Hospital, which saw an outbreak of COVID-19 among three administrative staff, will only accept emergency patients, Dix said.
“Lions Gate Hospital is also preparing to open a dedicated COVID-19 unit to provide care to those with the virus,” said Dix.
Dix said the province was asking pharmacists to no longer require a doctor’s note to refill prescriptions in order to take pressure off of doctors.
He said health authorities have also been directed to register non-practicing, retired, out-of-jurisdiction and military health-care workers to help if needed.
Visits to long-term care homes are being restricted to essential visitors only, Dix said.
Henry said again Monday that not everyone needs a test for COVID-19, even if they have mild symptoms. She said anyone feeling sick but not in medical distress should stay home and self-isolate until their symptoms resolve.
“They don’t need necessarily to be tested unless they start having more severe illness,” said Henry.
“We want to make sure that everybody who needs the test is able to get it, and everybody who needs the assessment and the medical care is able to get it as well.”
Dix said B.C. is also launching a dedicated coronavirus information line, which can be reached at 1-888-COVID19.
Henry said that she has been told the federal government will relax Transport Canada regulations to allow ferry passengers to remain in their vehicles during sailings.
On Monday, federal officials said Vancouver International Airport (YVR) would be one of four airports accepting international flights, starting Wednesday.
YVR said it was aware of the measure and was working through the next steps to implement it.
Daily COVID-19 updates will be streamed live at globalnews.ca, on the Global BC Facebook page, and broadcast live on BC1.