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B.C. reports 549 new COVID-19 cases over four days as death toll reaches 250 

Click to play video: 'B.C. officials announce 549 new cases over COVID-19 over four days'
B.C. officials announce 549 new cases over COVID-19 over four days
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for the previous four reporting days. Dr. Bonnie Henry also says the backlog of COVID-19 testing was finally cleared by labs over the weekend. – Oct 13, 2020

B.C.’s top doctor on Tuesday reported 549 new cases of COVID-19 over four days and five new deaths.

There were 170 cases from Friday to Saturday, 159 cases from Saturday to Sunday, 119 from Sunday to Monday, and 101 from Monday to Tuesday. Five of the cases were epi-linked.

The province has recorded 100 or more new COVID-19 cases each day for 12 straight days.

Henry said Tuesday’s numbers “are higher than what we would like to see,” and attributed the rise to a backlog in cases that added about “an extra day’s worth of tests” to the totals.

The backlog, which occurred largely in the Fraser Health region, has now been cleared, Henry said.

Click to play video: 'Dr. Bonnie Henry on rise in COVID-19 cases linked to recreational sports'
Dr. Bonnie Henry on rise in COVID-19 cases linked to recreational sports

The rate of positive tests remained stable at 1.39 per cent, Henry said.

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“This is where we want to be,” she said. “We want to be able to be picking up those cases in the community and make sure we are doing contact tracing on every single one.”

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The five deaths brought the provincial death toll to 250.

The number of active cases in B.C. rose to 1,476.

More than 3,600 people are in isolation due to possible exposure to the virus.

There are 10,734 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of those, 8,974 patients have fully recovered, or about 84 per cent.

Click to play video: 'Mixed messages about how long a person with COVID-19 is contagious'
Mixed messages about how long a person with COVID-19 is contagious

The number of people in hospital with the disease has risen by nine to 77, the highest total since May 5.

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Twenty-four patients are in intensive care — an increase of five from Friday — and the highest number since May 1.

Over the weekend, West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club announced it is closed until further notice after a series of potential COVID-19 exposures.

Anyone who was at the club between Oct. 1 and Oct. 6 should self-monitor for symptoms until Oct. 20, Hollyburn CEO Ed McLaughlin said.

— With files from Simon Little

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