Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, for a total of 2,694 cases in British Columbia.
She says there are 183 active cases in the province.
Two-thousand-three-hundred-and-44 people who tested positive have recovered, and Dr. Henry says there are no new deaths to report.
To date, there have been 130 cases reported in the Vancouver Island Health region.
Elsewhere in the province there have been 917 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,386 in the Fraser Health region,195 in the Interior Health region and 66 in the Northern Health region.
While there have been no new health-care facility outbreaks, five long-term care or assisted-living facilities continue to have active outbreaks.
Dr Henry also commented on another challenge facing the province: “COVID-19 is not our only health crisis. Today, the BC Coroners Service announced that 170 people in B.C. have died from overdoses from a toxic illicit drug supply in the month of May alone.”
She says the extent and complexity of the two health emergencies have stretched public health capacity to the limits.
Dr Henry says, “There is no one, single cause to the overdose emergency, and there is no one, simple solution.”
The provincial health officer says we need to eliminate the stigma and shame surrounding addiction.
She says people must not be afraid to reach out to their family or friends to talk about their drug use, and we must all do our part to protect ourselves, our communities and our loved ones.
