There have been four additional deaths in B.C. from COVID-019 since Saturday May 23, but just 12 new confirmed cases, and no new community outbreaks to report.
“Our new numbers continue to track low,” provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said Monday. But as B.C. enters its second week of a phased reopening, Henry said "we may see a resurgence of new cases."
Hospitalizations are down to just 37 people, with only seven of those patients in intensive care. Scheduled surgeries that had been cancelled during the pandemic have restarted, Henry said.
One of the recent community outbreaks has been at the Nature's Touch fruit and vegetable processing plant in Abbotsford, which has raised concerns that consumers could catch the virus from Nature's Touch products -- something Henry said was not a concern.
"There has not been any reported cases of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19," Henry said, adding the food is safe, even from those facilities that have had outbreaks.
Henry was asked if there is any possibility that restrictions on gatherings of more than 50 people might be relaxed this summer. Those restrictions prevent festivals -- even smaller ones -- sporting events, and live music at nightclubs from occurring. Many nightclubs may never survive the prolonged restrictions. Even drive-in theatres have had limits placed on vehicle numbers.
"I want these things as much as anybody else," Henry said, but said there is just too much risk associated with larger gathering becoming super-spreader events.
"We do not want to put to waste all the efforts we have done as a community across this province," she said.
She added that she will continually reassess the possibility of openings for the event industry but said "I can't give you a specific time."
Henry was asked if there had been any cases of secondary type infections in children, one of them known as Kawasaki disease. Henry said that this condition typically occurs in children after a viral infection, and though COVID-19 may be one of the causes, it's not the only virus that can cause it.
Of the dozen cases identified in B.C., so far none have been confirmed to be linked to COVID-19.
"I will say it is quite rare still," she said.
She added that it appears that COVID-19 is more likely to be spread from children to adults than vice versa.
Here are today’s COVID-19 numbers for Monday May 25, with numbers from May 23 (a 48-hour period) in brackets:
New cases: 12 (10)
Total: 2,530 (2,517)
Recovered: 2,102 (2,057)
Active cases: 267 (303)
Hospitalized: 37 (39)
Intensive care: 7 (8)
Deaths: 161 (157)
Confirmed cases by region:
Vancouver Coastal Health: 894
Fraser Health: 1,253
Island Health: 127
Interior Health: 194
Northern Health: 62
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