Nine cases of COVID-19 in Northern Health; BC has more than 600 cases

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported today (Tuesday) 145 new cases of the coronavirus in B.C., including four in  Northern Health.

This brings the total in the province to 617 cases, nine of which are in the Northern Health region.

Dr. Henry also told a news conference there were no new deaths in B.C., which leaves the provincial total at 13.

The regional breakdown is as follows:

330 Vancouver Coastal Health (up 82 from the last report)

194 Fraser Health (up 44 from the last report)

44 Vancouver Island Health  (up 5 from the last report)

41 Interior Health (up 11 from the last report)

9 Northern Health  (up 4 from the last report)

Case breakdown:
330 VCH
194 Fraser Health
44 Island Health
41 Interior Health
9 Northern Health#COVID19BC #COVID19Canada #bcpoli

— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 24, 2020

Now at least 32 cases associated with the Pacific Dental Conference that happened March 5-7. – Henry #covid19

— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 24, 2020

#Breaking 145 new cases of #COVID19 announced in #BC, bringing the total to 617. #NorthernHealth‘s total has risen by 4 totalling 9. | #covid19bc #stopthespread #flattenthecurve #bchealth

— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 24, 2020

This includes 67 test positives from Sunday afternoon till Monday and 73 from Monday till now. https://t.co/H4O7wFz62Y

— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 24, 2020

Testing:

* Testing capacity has increased to approximately 3,500 tests per day.

* 26,681 individuals tested as of March 23, 2020.

* Testing is available for all who need it, but not everyone requires a test.

* If you have no symptoms, mild symptoms or you are a returning traveller self-isolating at home, you do not require a test.

* For each of these situations, the public health advice remains the same, regardless of test results: self-isolate for 14 days to monitor for the development of symptoms or until your symptoms are completely gone.

* Those who have severe illness, require hospitalization, are residents of long-term care facilities or are health-care workers will continue to be tested.
* Anyone part of an active investigation or outbreak cluster will be tested so they can be appropriately monitored.

* If symptoms appear, call your health-care provider, call 811 for guidance or check your symptoms online: https://covid19.thrive.health

– with files from Catherine Garrett, MyPGNow.com staff