B.C. health officials to deliver COVID-19 update for Saturday

B.C. has detected 9 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province's total to 73, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Friday.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is expected to give a COVID-19 update at noon PT. 0:00

B.C. has detected nine new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province's total to 73, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Saturday.

Many of the new cases are related to an outbreak at the Lynn Valley Care centre in North Vancouver. Four residents and 12 staff of the centre are now infected, an update Henry says is “not a surprise.”

“There may be more cases that arise in the coming days,” she said.

The update comes after a week that saw more than two dozen new cases in B.C., three sickened employees at a North Vancouver hospital, another care home outbreak, a delayed cruise ship season, extensive travel advisories locally and internationally.

On Friday, Henry officially banned all gatherings of more than 250 people.

Henry emphasized B.C.'s testing strategy, saying the focus remains on testing people in active investigations, cluster outbreaks, healthcare workers and people in hospital.

She said people who return from travel who have no symptoms or mild symptoms do not need to go in for testing, unless their conditions worsens to the point that they require medical care.

Henry also dissuaded people from panic buying — which has been observed in stores across Canada — saying supply chains remain strong and there is no need to stock up.

“We are going to get through this, this is going to be a challenging time for all of us,” she said.

More to come.

If you have a COVID-19-related story we should pursue that affects British Columbians, please email us at impact@cbc.ca

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