By Pete McIntyre

640 new Covid cases, 24 deaths in B.C.

Dec 16, 2020 | 4:18 PM

COVID-19 cases and deaths were on the rise again in B.C. Wednesday.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, announced 640 new cases, and 24 more deaths.

Interior Health has 91 new cases, and one new death, a woman in her 90s, the eight fatality in the IH region.

Elsewhere, Vancouver Coastal Health has 98 new cases, Fraser Health has 399, there are five in Island Health, 47 in Northern Health and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There are 9,950 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 362 people hospitalized, 91 in critical or intensive care.

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Currently, 10,538 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 32,376 people who tested positive have recovered.

The COVID-related death toll is now at 692 for B.C.

Dix and Henry said 409 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were given to B.C. front-line health-care workers on Tuesday.

“Starting next week, the province will receive weekly vaccine deliveries for clinics in every health region throughout the province. Specific timing will be provided once confirmed.

There is one new health-care facility outbreak at Sunrise of Vancouver. The outbreaks at Sun Pointe Village, Gateway Lodge and the University Hospital of Northern BC are over. There have been no new community outbreaks.

“Many people have already made the commitment to make their holiday celebrations safe celebrations – by staying small and connecting virtually instead. There are countless creative ways for us to have those important connections and also protect our communities and the people we care for most. Let’s continue to do our part and break the chain of transmission in B.C.,” Dix and Henry said in a statement.

Update on Interior Health numbers:

· IH is reporting 91 new cases overnight, for a total of 2,998

· 843 cases are active and on isolation

· Twenty-eight people are in hospital; seven of them in ICU.

· Total number of deaths in IH is 8, an increase of one from Tuesday after a woman in her 90s died.

“We are sad to report an eighth COVID-related death in Interior Health. Each loss is felt deeply in our communities and our condolences go out to the family, friends and caregivers. As COVID-19 continues to spread, we are all feeling the impacts of this virus across our region. Each of us has a role to play in limiting the spread of COVID-19 as we fight this pandemic together,” said Susan Brown, president and CEO, Interior Health

Update on outbreaks:

· Interior Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak related to the Teck mining operations near Elkford. Please see the information bulletin (also attached).

· Big White in Kelowna the next update will be on Friday.

· McKinney Place long term care in Oliver has 57 cases (41 residents, with five hospitalized, and 16 staff.)

· Village by the Station long-term care in Penticton remains at four cases.

· Mountainview Village long-term care in Kelowna remains at seven cases.

by Pete McIntyre

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