Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia:
“Today we are reporting three periods: from March 26 to 27, we had 936 new cases; from March 27 to 28, we had 805 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we had a further 777 new cases.
“This results in a total of 2,518 new cases, and a total of 98,195 cases in British Columbia.
“To date, 699,092 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,289 of which are second doses.
“We have been working closely with our partners across the country, Health Canada and PHAC as well as international partners to monitor vaccine responses.
“In the last few days, we have seen the start of exponential growth in new cases, hospitalizations and more people requiring critical care support.
“A circuit breaker is now required to break the chains of transmission in our province and allow us to safely move forward.
“Gathering indoors is too a great of a risk for us right now. As a result, for the next three weeks, from midnight tonight through to April 19, 2021, the provincial health officer’s orders have been amended.
“The full order details can be found on the provincial health officer’s website:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
“We have also seen transmission directly connected to travel between communities and remind everyone travel is limited to essential travel only – for work or medical reasons. If you or anyone in your family develops any signs of illness – especially as children return from spring break – you must stay home from work or school and arrange to get tested immediately.
“Putting new restrictions and orders in place is always a difficult decision, and at this time, it is a step back from where we wanted and need to be. But, when spikes and surges become a sustained trend, we will take the necessary steps to protect our province.
“Let’s all stay outside, stay apart and stay with our same group of close contacts – always using our layers of protection no matter where we may be. This is what will allow us to get through this storm together.”
