Island Health now has eight total confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The seven new ones were announced this morning by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix. The previous single case, announced last week, was a man in his 60s who had just returned from a trip to Egypt.
Officials did not confirm where the seven new cases are, only that they are in the Island Health catchment area.
The island cases were among 30 total new ones announced bringing BC’s COVID-19 case count to 103 overall. BC’s death toll has also gone up by three and now sits at four. All of those deaths have happened at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.
Dr. Henry said five people have now fully recovered from COVID-19. Officials also announced some new measures today aimed at keeping the novel coronavirus from spreading.
At the federal level, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has closed Canada’s borders to non-residents.
He said that travellers that are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents will not be allowed into the country with the exception of Americans, aircrews, diplomats and immediate family members of Canadian citizens. On top of that airlines will ban travellers that are presenting symptoms of COVID-19 and starting Wednesday international flights will only land in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.
Trudeau told Canadians if you are abroad “It is time to come home.”
In British Columbia, all casinos, gaming centres and bingo halls will be closed by midnight tonight. The province is also cutting the limit for people at public events from 250 to just 50.
