B.C. announces 161 new cases of COVID-19 and 3 more deaths
Province conducted a record 11,862 tests Thursday, for a positivity rate of 1.3 per cent
B.C. health officials announced 161 new cases of COVID-19 and three new deaths on Friday.
The number of new cases was the second highest one-day total since the pandemic began. The province recorded 165 new cases on Sept. 17.
The province also conducted a record 11,862 tests Thursday — eclipsing its record of 10,899 the day before — for a positivity rate of 1.3 per cent.
In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Stephen Brown, B.C.'s deputy health minister, said there are 1,302 active cases of people infected with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in B.C., down by 47 from a week ago.
Sixty-three people are in hospital, with 16 in intensive care. Hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are up by one from last Friday, when 62 people were in hospital.
The province's death toll increased to 238.
Public health is actively monitoring 3,114 people across the province, who are in self-isolation due to COVID-19 exposure.
Fraser Health Authority declared an outbreak Friday morning at Surrey Memorial Hospital after evidence of transmission in a medicine unit, according to a news release.
The authority said one patient and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
Henry and Brown said the outbreaks at Yaletown House and Peace Arch Hospital have been declared over. Fourteen outbreaks continue at long-term care homes and three in acute-care facilities.
There are no new community or school outbreaks, although exposure events persist around the province, Henry and Brown said.
A total of 9,381 people have tested positive in B.C. since start of the pandemic, and 7,813 people have recovered.