The province is reporting 53 new COVID-19 cases in past day for a total of 1,066
In the Interior Health region there were an additional seven cases for a total of 114.
The number of fatalities grew by one to 25 in B.C., with the latest death in the Fraser Valley.
There are 142 people in hospital, 67 are in intensive care.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said 606 patients have fully recovered.
There are outbreaks in 21 long term care or assisted living homes. Two of them are considered major, while most have just one resident or staff member with the virus.
Dr. Henry said the goal is to have the restrictions on us for as short a period of time as possible, but they won’t be removed in whole or part if the scales could be tipped negative.
“This is a very challenging time for us,” said Henry. “It’s hard to know how things will go. Right now we seem to be holding our own, but without a doubt, we will get through this no matter what, but we do have a few more weeks to go.”
Henry said we can do our best by maintaining strong social connections – but at a distance and the increasing use of social media to stay in touch. She added that it was great to see other examples of people doing charitable things for their neighbours and community.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said there were 4,192 empty acute care beds available in the province, which means capacity in the system is at 61 percent. He once again said we all have to be 100 per cent all in with the efforts to not spread the virus.
Dix re-emphasized the need for people returning from outside the country to abide by the self-isolation rules.
“It will continue to aid the efforts of the millions of people in B.C. who are doing the right thing by social distancing. There are some signs that the actions are making a difference and we need to dig deeper, work harder, keep working together, keep physical distance and stay 100 percent committed,” said Dix.
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British Columbia COVID-19 update as of 3 p.m. April 1:
New cases: 53
Total cases 1,066
142 in hospital, with 67 in critical care
one new death in Fraser Health, for total of 25
606 people have fully recovered
Of the total cases:
497 are in Vancouver Coastal Health
367 Fraser Health
72 Vancouver Island
114 in Interior Health
16 Northern Health
