21 new deaths and 1158 new cases of COVID-19 over a 3 day period. From Fri to Sat 408 cases, Sat to Sun there were 473 cases and from Sun to Mon 277 cases. There have been 67,937 cases of COVID in BC. Total deaths sitting at 1210. So far 138,892 people have received single COVID-19 vaccine doses. There have been 4,491 second doses.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, provide an update on COVID-19 in BC. #CovidBC
— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) February 1, 2021
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British Columbia has had 4 South African variant cases, 3 unlinked and 1 linked. Three were in Coastal. There have been 14 UK Variant cases in BC, including 7 new cases. Eight of the cases are in Fraser, 7 travel related.
Dr. Henry says Coastal Health spent a lot of time in Whistler this weekend to inform people about the restrictions. Says the plans fell apart later in the evenings and made it hard for staff to keep people from congregating.
The province is doing random sampling testing in areas of growth of the virus. There has been some sampling at St. Paul's Hospital. Dr. Bonnie Henry says there will be genome sequencing done in all cases of COVID19 detected in school aged children. Dr. Henry says because we don't know a lot about the variants, the province is working to do testing on just under 80 people at Garibaldi. They will be tested with rapid test and PCR.
Dr. Henry says the highest concern in BC is community spread of the variants in the province. "We have stepped up our surveillance."
More details are coming Friday. Dr. Bonnie Henry - "I am calling on everyone right now. Hold off on the Super Bowl. You should not be planning viewing of the Super Bowl at restaurants or bars."
Dr. Henry says discussions are still under way before the weekend. Says the current restrictions work. But it sounds like the worry is people will act differently for Super Bowl. Dr. Henry reminding to watch Super Bowl with your household. "Many people have parties in their household, that is not on this year."
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