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B.C. sees record 13 deaths from COVID-19 within a day

Record number of people are also in hospital in B.C. with COVID-19: 294
Dr. Bonnie Henry
B.C.'s provincial health officer Bonnie Henry spoke to media on November 25

Thirteen people have died in B.C. from COVID-19 in the past day, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said November 25 – 11 in the Fraser Health region, and two in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. That is more than in any other 24-hour period since the first death from the virus was recorded in the province in early March.

There have now been a total of 371 people in B.C. who have died from the virus that has caused a global pandemic.

There was one time when Henry announced a larger number of new deaths in an update. That was on November 23, but it was for a three-day period, with four deaths coming on November 21, eight deaths coming on November 22 and five deaths coming on November 23.

B.C. has a record 294 people in hospital, with 61 of those in intensive care units. The vast majority of the 7,616 people identified as having active infections have been told to self-isolate. 

Henry revealed a number of corrections to data announcements in the past week, with the end result being that 255 cases were not reported. She said the total number of COVID-19 infections since the virus first appeared in B.C. in late January is now 29,086.

That comes thanks to 738 new cases identified in the past 24 hours. That would have been the second-highest total in a 24-hour period, next to yesterday's reported 941 cases, had it not been for Henry's corrections to past data. Her new numbers show that the highest one-day total was on November 21, when there were 859 cases. With 11,492 tests conducted in the past 24 hours, the positive-test rate was 6.4%. 

There are 10,270 people under active health monitoring and 19,814 people have recovered.

Given those numbers, there are 1,285 people who are unaccounted for, as the government does not list them as either having died, recovered or being actively infected. The most likely reason, health officials have told BIV, is that these people left the province without alerting authorities on their status. 

The Fraser Health region remains the hot spot for new infections in the province. Here is a breakdown of where new cases have been identified:
• 169 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 443 in Fraser Health;
• 21 in Island Health;
• 70 in Interior Health; and
• 35 in Northern Health.

The outbreak at the Royal Columbian Hospital has been declared over, as has an outbreak at MSJ Distribution in Delta. 

Henry said that Ross Brown, vice-president of COVID response for Vancouver Coastal Health, would be the leader, along with Henry, and deputy minister of health Stephen Brown, of B.C.'s COVID-19 vaccine program to make sure that vaccines are available to roll out across the province as soon as they arrive – "hopefully, as soon as January."

The five active outbreaks at acute-care facilities are at:
• Burnaby Hospital in Burnaby;
• Langley Memorial Hospital in Langley;
• Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver;
• Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge; and
• Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey.

The 12 active outbreaks at seniors' facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health region include:
• Arbutus Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Banfield Pavilion, in Vancouver;
• Revera Capilano Care Centre in West Vancouver;
• Columbus Residence in Vancouver;
• Holy Family Hospital in Vancouver;
• Little Mountain Place in Vancouver;
• Louis Brier Home & Hospital in Vancouver;
• Renfrew Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Windermere Care Centre in Vancouver; and
• Youville Residence in Vancouver.

The 32 outbreaks at seniors' facilities in the ​Fraser Health region include:
• Agassiz Seniors Community in Agassiz;
• Agecare Harmony Court Estates in Burnaby;
• Agecare Court Estates in Burnaby;
• Al Hogg Pavilion in White Rock;
• Amenida Seniors Community in Surrey;
• Belvedere Care Centre in Coquitlam;
• Carelife Fleetwood in Surrey;
• Chartwell Langley Gardens in Langley;
• Cottage-Worthington Pavilion in Abbotsford;
• Fellburn Care Centre long-term care facility in Burnaby;
• Finnish Manor in Burnaby;
• Fort Langley Seniors Community in Fort Langley;
• George Derby Centre in Burnaby;
• Good Samaritan Delta View Care Center 2 long-term care facility in Delta;
• Harrison Pointe retirement home in Langley;
• Hawthorne Seniors Care Community long-term care in Port Coquitlam;
• Hawthorne Seniors Care Community assisted living in Port Coquitlam;
• Hollyrood Manor long-term care home in Maple Ridge;
• Jackman Manor in Langley Township;
• Kiwanis Care Centre in New Westminster;
• Laurel Place long-term care facility in Surrey;
• Menno Home in Abbotsford;
• Northcrest Care Centre in Delta;
• Peace Portal Seniors Village in Surrey;
• PICS Assisted Living in Surrey;
• Queen's Park Care Centre in New Westminster;
• Sunset Manor in Chilliwack;
• Tabor Home in Abbotsford;
• The Residence at Clayton Heights in Surrey;
• The Residence in Mission;
• Valley Haven Care Home in Chilliwack; and
• White Rock Senior Village in White Rock.

There are two outbreaks at seniors' homes in Northern Health: North Peace Seniors Housing Society buildings in Fort St. John, and Rotary Manor Dawson Creek in Dawson Creek.

Two outbreaks are at seniors' living facilities in the Island Health region: Tsawaayuss-Rainbow Gardens in Port Alberni, and Discovery Care Centre in Campbell River.

The Interior Health region has four seniors' facility outbreaks, at:
• Hamlets at Westsyde in Kamloops;
• Orchard Manor in Kelowna;
• Sun Pointe Village in Kelowna; and
• Village by the Station in Penticton.

gkorstrom@biv.com

@GlenKorstrom