The number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the North has climbed by one, to 12 people, according to the March 28 briefing by Dr Bonnie Henry.
In total, there are 884 cases in the province. While the number climbed by 92 people in the last 24 hours—the largest single-day increase—that’s not as bad as it could have been.
At the beginning of the outbreak, the province was expecting to see a growth rate of 24 percent per day. But 92 people is only a 10.5 percent increase.
Dr Henry says the larger number is not unexpected given where the province is in the course of the outbreak. She said larger numbers of positive tests reflect, in part, the targeted nature of testing.
“We’re not seeing the percentage increase climb dramatically,” Henry said. “It’s 92 over 884. It’s a little over 10 per cent. Yesterday, it was about eight per cent. So, looking at the rate of change is something that we’re also following. It’s not unexpected, it just reminds us that we’re in the midst of this right now, and everything that we do is really important to try and keep it at that lower rate.”
45 percent of the cases, or 396 people who have contracted Covid-19 in BC have recovered.
About ten percent of the cases—81—are currently in hospital, including two in the northern health region.
In preparation for a possible upswing in the number of cases, Health Authorities have been cancelling elective surgeries and taking other measures to keep beds open. As of today, says Health Minister Adrien Dix, there are 4295 beds open across the province.
It has been nearly two weeks since the province started encouraging people to practice social distancing. “We won’t know we’ve reached the peak until we’re looking back at it,” says Dr. Henry. “the only way to tell is in retrospect.”
With current estimates of the number of people who are asymptomatic, Dr. Henry says there are probably another 1000-2000 people who are infected who haven’t been discovered, because not everybody is being tested.
Dix says people need to remain vigilant. “What we need is to be 100 percent all in as a community. We have to do that every day. Every hour of every day. Every decision is important, in order to bend that curve. We need 100 percent commitment from everybody, every day.”
