2 more patients die of COVID-19 in B.C., bringing total to 50

B.C. has recorded another two deaths from the novel coronavirus, but the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to slowly fall.

As of Thursday afternoon, B.C. has recorded a total of 1,370 confirmed cases of the disease, including 34 new patients. Fifty people have died to date.

There are 132 people in hospital, including 68 patients in intensive care. A total of 858 people have recovered from their illness.

"We are not over the hump yet. We are going to have a bumpy ride for awhile," Henry said. "Going into this long weekend, it is more important than ever that we keep going."

She said that outbreaks in long-term care homes continue to be a serious concern, and the vast majority of deaths to date involve residents of those homes.

But no new cases were confirmed among residents or staff on Thursday, and the outbreak at one facility has been declared over. That means there are now 20 active outbreaks in these homes, all in the Lower Mainland, and four homes have been cleared of the virus.

Henry has ordered that anyone who works in these facilities is now limited to working at a single site so they don't spread the virus between homes, and the province is currently working on implementing that order.

Health Minister Adrian Dix told reporters that it's a complicated process making sure that workers are limited to a single long-term care home, as it involves both private and public operators. And the province wants to ensure there are equitable wages and that worker preference is taken into account.

He estimates the cost of implementing the plan will be around $10 million per month.

Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix both said that British Columbians have done a good job of staying physically distant and helping to stop the virus from spreading too quickly, and they're optimistic about the trajectory for the province.

But they both emphasized that the long weekend will be a critical time for holding the line. That means no one should be travelling unless absolutely necessary, even within the province, and no one should meet up with family or friends to celebrate religious holidays or the beautiful spring weather.

Henry suggested that anyone who's bored can host an online cooking show, stream a movie with a friend, have a virtual block party or sit in the sun and read a book — at least two metres away from others, of course.

At the same time, Henry acknowledged that some parts of the province are seeing very slow growth in the number of cases, and she said it's possible that the current restrictions on daily life might be lifted a little sooner in some regions than in others.

132,000 jobs lost

Earlier Thursday, Statistics Canada revealed B.C. lost 132,000 jobs between March 15 and 21, just as officials declared a provincial state of emergency and ramped up physical distancing. The provincial unemployment rate rose to 7.2 per cent. 

The federal government released its projections for the pandemic, saying there could be nearly 32,000 cases of COVID-19 and between 500 and 700 deaths in Canada by April 16 — and anywhere from 11,000 to 22,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic, even with relatively strong control measures in place.

The province announced on Thursday it will be spending $5 million to expand existing mental health services and launch new virtual programs to help British Columbians cope with the pandemic.

If you have a COVID-19-related story we should pursue that affects British Columbians, please email us at impact@cbc.ca.