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BC records over 200 COVID-19 cases today

By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Published 3:46 PDT, Wed October 21, 2020

BC has reached a new milestone during the second wave of its COVID-19 pandemic: over 200 new cases in a single day.

Health officials announced 203 new cases in the province today including three that are epidemiologically linked. The new cases bring BC’s total to 12,057. Over the last week, there have been 1,166 new cases, with a daily average of around 167 cases.

There are currently 1,766 active cases and 4,294 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Across the province, 70 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, 21 of whom are in intensive care. Sadly, there were two new virus-related deaths, for a total of 256 deaths in BC.

There were three new healthcare facility outbreaks announced, and two that were declared over. In total, 18 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

Health officials also announced the first BC school outbreak, in Kelowna. Three members of the school community are confirmed positive for COVID-19, and public health teams have directed around 160 members of the school community to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. Interior Health will provide ongoing updates as the investigation continues.

Health officials said many new cases and recent community clusters are directly connected to gatherings like weddings, funerals and celebrations of life. But with COVID-19 still in BC communities, they said even small gatherings are risky right now.

“Inside or outside, large space or small, the fewer the faces the better,” they said. “Now is the time to keep these celebrations small and to plan for bigger family gatherings at a time when we are no longer putting our seniors, elders and others at risk.”

For a list of community exposure events, click here.
For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and testing, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/ or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.

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