The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive and critical care in B.C. continues to drop, though dozens of new cases are still being reported.
On Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed 53 new cases since Saturday and three additional deaths due to the coronavirus, all linked to long-term care homes. The death toll now stands at 117.
Henry and Dix released the numbers as part of their daily news conference where they also discussed the latest modelling data.
The province now has 2,224 confirmed cases of the disease. Also, 1,417 of those patients have fully recovered, or about 64 per cent.
Meanwhile, 77 people remain in hospital — an increase of five since Saturday — and the number of patients in intensive care dropped from 23 to 20, the lowest total in six weeks.
At the Mission Institution, Henry reported 134 total cases of COVID-19: 121 inmates and 13 staff.
Another 15 cases in B.C. are associated with the Kearl Lake oil sands facility in northern Alberta.
Henry reminded workers returning to B.C. from Kearl Lake to self-isolate for 14 days and their family members should monitor themselves for symptoms.
“Somebody who has worked at Kearl Lake, who has come back and not recognized that they have had a mild illness, has passed it on to a close contact and that close contact was a health-care worker,” Henry said.
There are three outbreaks at poultry facilities: 54 cases of COVID-19 at Coquitlam’s Superior Poultry; 35 at East Vancouver’s United Poultry; and seven at Specialty Poultry in the Fraser Valley.
She reported no new outbreaks at long-term care, assisted living, and acute-care facilities.