B.C. reports 1 new case of COVID-19 and 1 death
'We have to be cautious that we don't go too far and risk a resurgence,' province says as businesses reopen
One person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and one more person has died of the disease in the past 24 hours, the province announced Friday.
A total of 2,632 people have now been diagnosed with COVID-19 in B.C.
There are currently 193 active cases in B.C. Of those, 21 people are hospitalized, five of them are in intensive care, and the rest are recovering at home in isolation.
The person who died lived in the Fraser Health region. A total of 167 people in B.C. have died of the disease and 2,272 people have recovered.
An outbreak that started at North Vancouver's Berkley Care Centre in April is now over, said Friday's statement from Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
There are no new outbreaks at health care facilities, but outbreaks continue at five long-term care or assisted living facilities.
There are no new community outbreaks, and public health teams are managing eight existing community outbreaks.
'We have to be cautious'
On Thursday, the provincial government released modelling showing strains traced to Europe and Eastern Canada are, by far, the largest source of COVID-19 infections in B.C.
Other data presented Thursday suggest that since businesses and services began reopening on May 19, British Columbians have managed to keep their social contacts to between 30 and 40 per cent of what they were before the pandemic.
The province's strategy is to minimize the number of new cases and close contacts, manage clusters of cases and outbreaks with contact tracing, and modify public health measures as necessary.
Public health officials are asking British Columbians to continue to assess risks and take precautions to protect each other.
Anyone who is sick is still asked to stay home and gatherings of more than 50 people are not allowed.
"As the recent B.C. COVID-19 modelling has shown us, we can safely reopen many businesses, return to in-class learning and gradually increase our social interactions, but we have to be cautious that we don't go too far and risk a resurgence in cases," Friday's statement said.
"We have learned a lot about COVID-19. Most importantly, we have learned that we must all stay vigilant, that a slow and thoughtful approach will protect us and keep us safe, and that by working together and doing our part, we will get through this."