VICTORIA -- One more person has died of COVID-19 in British Columbia, bringing the province’s death toll from the virus to 132, health officials announced Wednesday.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix also announced 16 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the province’s total to 2,376 cases since the pandemic began.
Of those cases, 59 people were in hospital for treatment of the virus, 14 of which required intensive care.
The majority of the cases are located in the Lower Mainland, with the Fraser Health region reporting 1,137 cases and the Vancouver Coastal Health region recording 877.
Elsewhere in the province, the Island Health region has 125 confirmed cases, the Interior Health region reported 180 cases and the Northern Health region has 57.
With B.C. beginning to ease health restrictions next week, Henry stressed that some provincial health orders will remain in effect.
Physical distancing will continue to be in place, both indoors and outdoors.
“The more people that we come in contact with, the more chances we have to transfer this virus,” she said.
If you visit with friends, make sure that you continue to sit at least two metres apart from one another, especially if indoors, said Henry. At the same time, expanding social bubbles should be limited to one group outside the home.
“Make sure that when you do [meet] it’s with one small group. So don’t change it up every day,” said Henry.
“Outside is always better than inside,” she added. “The fewer people that you see, the better you will be.”
Health officials also offered advice to faith leaders across B.C. Religious services can resume after the long weekend, so long as physical distancing and other health guidelines can be maintained.
Groups of up to 50 people may be allowed to gather, so long as everyone can stay at least two metres apart from one another.
If religious buildings are not large enough to accommodate physical distancing guidelines, then smaller services should be held.
“That may mean you need to have shorter or multiple services... especially for older members of your congregation,” said Henry.
Health officials say that larger shops and department stores are permitted to have more than 50 people inside at once, so long as physical distancing rules can be met.
Henry stressed that shoppers in larger stores should not linger or chat with other people inside and that businesses should consider taking active measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission by sanitizing surfaces and installing physical barriers between staff and shoppers.
Health officials say they continue to work through a backlog of surgeries created by COVID-19.
According to Dix, 20,165 surgeries took place in B.C. between March and early May.
However, roughly 16,000 elective surgeries were cancelled over the same period.
Health officials continue to reach out to people who had their operations cancelled or postponed to reschedule their procedures.
“We are pulling out all the stops to getting people the surgeries they need,” said Dix.
As the Victoria Day long weekend approaches, health officials are urging British Columbians to stay close to home.
“The way we can help each other right now is to not engage in non-essential travel,” said Dix.
The health minister said that if British Columbians are planning to camp or visit remote areas of the province this weekend, they should prepare for the trip by bringing their own food and supplies beforehand so that they do not need to interact with other members of the community.
