B.C. records 12 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths

There have been 12 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. over the past 24 hours, including one epidemiologically (epi) linked case, and no new deaths, health officials announced Tuesday.

B.C.’s case total is 2,990, with 16 people remaining in hospital and four in ICU.

A total of 2,645 people have recovered from the virus and 162 cases remain active.

The COVID-19 death toll remains at 183.

In a release, the province confirmed there have been no new health-care facility outbreaks and the outbreak at Tabor Home has now been declared over. In total, two long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute care facility have active outbreaks.

Health officials on Monday reported six new COVID-19 deaths in B.C., over a 72-hour period, all of them linked to long-term care.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said four of the deaths were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and the other two were in Fraser Health. One of the deaths in Fraser Health occurred in June, and has only now been attributed to the virus.

Henry again emphasized that it’s important not to overreact at the sight of people travelling in vehicles with U.S or out-of-province licence plates, saying “we may not know everyone’s back story.”

British Columbians should, however, remind visitors that everyone in the province has been asked to keep their social circles small and maintain social distance, she said.

“It is perfectly valid for us to say, ‘This is how we do things here’ in a gentle way, and model that behaviour. ”

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Also on Tuesday, Premier John Horgan extended the state of emergency to the end of the day on July 21.

“We’re starting to see some restrictions lifting, but there are measures we need to keep in place to continue battling COVID-19,” he said in a statement.

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“We will continue to take the necessary steps to make sure British Columbians are safe and that the most vulnerable people are protected, while experts work to find a treatment or vaccine.”

The state of emergency, which has been in place since March 18, is the longest in B.C.’s history.

— With files from Jon Azpiri and The Canadian Press