B.C. reports 12 new COVID-19 cases, four deaths linked to Langley care home

Health officials on Monday reported four new deaths and only 12 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. over the past 48 hours.

There were five new test cases from Saturday to Sunday and seven new cases from Sunday to Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.

There are now 2,530 confirmed cases of the disease in the province. Of those, 2,102 patients have fully recovered, or about 83 per cent.

The province also announced four new deaths, all linked to the Langley Lodge long-term care facility, bringing B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll to 161.

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Twenty deaths have now been linked to the Langley Lodge, matching the number of fatalities at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver — the site of the first major outbreak in B.C.

A case of COVID-19 was first confirmed at the care home in March, and the outbreak was declared over in late April.

Days later, a new outbreak, which originated with a staff member, was declared at the 139-bed facility.

Thirty-seven people are in hospital due to COVID-19 with seven patients in intensive care.

There are 14 ongoing outbreaks in long-term and assisted care facilities, two of which involve acute care units.

As the province heads into the second week of its multi-phase plan to reopen the economy, Health Minister Adrian Dix thanked British Columbians for their efforts.

“Our first weekend of renewed social and economic contacts went well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Henry was asked repeatedly about the ban she announced last Friday on events with more than 50 vehicles, such as film screenings at drive-in theatres, whose operators were hoping to welcome droves of customers looking for things to do in the pandemic summer.

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“We know that people don’t stay in their cars all the time when you’re at these events and the more people we have, the more chances we have that this virus can spread to a lot of other people,” she said.

Allowing more vehicles would make contact tracing more difficult if an outbreak were to occur, she added.

— With files from Simon Little, Emily Lazatin and The Canadian Press