B.C. recorded 34 new positive tests for COVID-19 April 29, bringing the provincial total to 2,087.
Two additional single cases of the novel coronavirus were discovered at senior care homes in Surrey and Langley, making a total of 24 health facilities with outbreak protocols in place. That includes acute care units at Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge and Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, where infections have been detected in non-COVID-19 wards.
ALSO READ: B.C. has 34 new COVID-19 cases, two more in senior homes
Health officials say Vancouver Island residents have done an ‘amazing’ job on flattening the curve during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a virtual town hall on COVID-19, Kathy MacNeil, Island Health CEO, said as of April 21, there were only five people with COVID-19 diagnoses across all the region’s hospitals.
ALSO READ: Only five COVID-19 patients across all Vancouver Island’s hospitals
Dr. Richard Stanwick, the Island’s chief medical health officer, added that only 14 of the Island’s 109 total cases to date have been a result of “community spread” and not traceable to foreign travel or localized clusters.
He was asked if the low number of COVID-19 cases on the Island means there isn’t much herd immunity in the region, and if that means a second wave of the virus is coming.
“There’s is a concern that this flattening of the curve is merely a delaying tactic and as [the provincial health officer] has suggested, we’re likely going to see waves of this virus and each time we’ll probably have to step up, until we have a vaccine,” Stanwick said.
He said there is a “grave risk” in creating herd immunity, and he said an expansion of COVID-19 testing will give health officials a better picture about what sort of immunity is already present.
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