COVID-19

Daily COVID-19 case count balloons to 274 in B.C.; Henry warns event organizers to shrink guest lists

Oct 22, 2020 | 3:35 PM

VICTORIA — A day after setting a new single-day record for COVID-19 cases, B.C. has blown that record away.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported a whopping 274 new cases of COVID19 Thursday (Oct. 22), including 12 cases within Interior Health.

That brings the province’s total to 12,331, spread out as follows:

  • 4,260 — Vancouver Coastal (up by 45)
  • 6,720 — Fraser Health (up by 203)
  • 249 — Island Health (up by 5)
  • 644 — Interior Health (up by 12)
  • 365 — Northern Health (up by 4)
  • 88 — Reside outside of Canada (unchanged)

Henry reported 1,920 active cases of the virus Thursday — an increase of more than 150. That total includes 71 people who are in hospital and 24 who are in critical or intensive care.

Interior Health reports 57 active cases, including two people in hospital and one in intensive care.

Positively, there were no new deaths Thursday, leaving the B.C. death toll at 256.

The number of people being actively monitored by public health officials due to exposure to known COVID-19 cases has reached 4,425.

A total of 10,114 people are considered fully recovered from the virus, or 82 per cent of all recorded cases.

Henry touched on the outbreak that has been called at a French-language school in Kelowna. She noted the outbreak has grown to five people — a mixture of students and staff.

She also focused many of her comments on social gatherings that have been taking place in B.C.

Henry said there are too many weddings and funerals taking place that include too many people who are mixing with each other.

She called on those organizing such celebrations to keep guest lists very small — no larger than the immediate household.