B.C. reports 27 new COVID-19 cases, community outbreak on Haida Gwaii

British Columbia saw a small dip in the number of new COVID-19 cases reported on Friday.

Health officials reported 27 new cases, after a week in which new diagnoses topped 30 nearly every day.

The province also reported a new community outbreak on Haida Gwaii, involving 13 cases.

All of those cases are local residents, and one person has recovered.

The initial source of infection remains under investigation, but officials say some cases are related to residents who had recently travelled off island, while others are from exposure to known cases.

The Haida Nation had previously expressed concerns an outbreak in the community would task local health facilities, with just two ventilators on the islands.

Active cases also dropped from 304 on Thursday, to 294 on Friday.

B.C. reported one additional COVID-19 death.

2:16 Tensions rise between Haida Nation and Queen Charlotte Lodge

The province has now recorded 191 deaths, and 3,419 cases of the virus, 22 of them epi-linked.

Twelve people are in hospital, three of them in critical care, while 2,934 patients have recovered.

Interior Health has announced yet another COVID-19 exposure in Kelowna, as the region grapples with 86 cases of the virus linked to private parties at the beginning of the month.

The health authority said anyone who visited Fossello’s clothing store on July 18 or between 10 a.m. and noon on July 20 should self-monitor for symptoms, and arrange a test if they manifest.

Four of Friday’s new cases were in the Interior Health region.