B.C. announced its 13th case of coronavirus (COVID-19) today as being a woman in her 80s who is in critical condition.
The woman, who recently returned from a tour of India and Hong Kong, is in isolation in the intensive care unit at Vancouver General Hospital.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s top medical health officer, said the woman is a resident of the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region, which includes Richmond.
"She has severe illness and is isolation at (VGH)," said Henry on Wednesday afternoon.
"The hospital has been preparing for this and everybody in (there) and workers are safe and being protected."
The woman also has underlying health conditions.
The investigation is ongoing, added Henry, as to who was on that tour of India and Hong Kong.
"Some of the people from that tour are back in Canada and some are still in Hong Kong," she said.
The timing of the woman's symptoms indicate she contracted the virus in Hong Kong, but Henry added that authorities "are still looking into that."
Henry said the woman arrived home in the VCH region the middle of last week, and anyone in close contact with her is in self-isolation for 14 days and will be monitored for symptoms.
"She was not ill during travel. There is only one close contact and they both stayed pretty close to home (on their return)," said Henry.
Yesterday, there were four new cases of coronavirus in B.C., taking the total on Tuesday night to 12.
Three of the Tuesday cases reside in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region, which includes Richmond, and have recently returned from Iran.
Henry made an announcement Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after revealing a ninth case the same morning.
The 10th case was a man in his 60s, who just travelled back from Iran and is now in isolation in the VCH region.
A small number of close contacts of the man are also in isolation
The 11th case was an adult woman, said Henry, who added there is limited information about her at the moment.
She is also in isolation and also recently travelled back from Iran and is in VCH region.
The 10th and 11th cases have no connection to any previous confirmed coronavirus patients.
The 12th case was a woman in her 30s and is a household contact of case number eight, which was announced Saturday as being a woman in her 60s, who is visiting from Iran.
By Wednesday, Iran had reported 2,922 cases of the disease — up 586 from Tuesday — and 92 deaths, which is up 15 from Tuesday.
However, the country’s reporting of coronavirus (COVID-19) has been widely criticized, with some people suggesting the spread was kept quiet to avoid voters swerving the national elections.
Health officials said this week Canadians should avoid all non-essential travel to Iran, as well as China and northern Italy, and people returning from those countries to Canada should contact health authorities and self-isolate in their homes for 14 days – even if they have no symptoms of illness –to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
By Wednesday, COVID-19 had infected 95,079 people around the world and killed 3,249, mostly in China, where the virus originated late last year.
More than 51,000 of the confirmed cases have fully recovered from the disease.
The majority of the current cases in B.C. now have connections to Iran, as opposed to China, where the virus first surfaced late last year. A ninth case of coronavirus was announced in B.C. on Tuesday morning.
Given the five new coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths on Monday in nearby Washington State, Henry was asked at Tuesday's morning's press conference if there will be any extra measures taken at the U.S. border.
"There is screening at our Canadian borders and it's still very limited (chances of getting COVID-19)...we still believe it's very safe," she said, adding that people shouldn't be afraid to cross the border into the U.S.
Henry said she and her team are in close communication with their counterparts in Washington State.
With spring break fast approaching, Henry also urged parents to think about where they're travelling during the holiday.
"What is your tolerance for being caught in a quarantine in that country? Perhaps you should defer your travel if it's a country that's having problems (with the disease)."
As for mass gatherings during the spring, such as the Persian New Year and Easter, Henry said it's incumbent upon event organizers to risk assess ahead of time.
"We need to be cognizant of what's happening in our local community. Do a risk assessment for your event. Who is coming to your event?" she said.
Henry reiterated the mantra of B.C. health officials from day one of the outbreak, urging people to wash their hands regularly and to stay at home if they are sick.
She advised people to change the way they greet each other, avoiding handshakes and kissing and said people with underlying health conditions should think twice before travelling.
An eighth case of coronavirus was announced Saturday in B.C.
It was in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region, which includes Richmond.
The patient was a woman in her 60s from Tehran, Iran who is visiting family who live in the VCH region, which stretches from Richmond to Vancouver, and north to Sea-to-Sky and Bella Coola.
The woman, who began experiencing symptoms a few days after she arrived in the province this week, is at home in isolation along with her family members, said B.C.'s top medical health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Her infection is "relatively mild," Henry said, and the woman had a limited number of contacts.
"The small number (of contacts) are all in isolation in the same household and we're monitoring them carefully," she said.
Vancouver Coastal Health is actively investigating the case.
Henry said B.C.'s first four cases have "fully recovered" and are out of isolation. Most of their contacts are also now out of isolation following their 14 day quarantine, and none of them developed any symptoms.
"That's very good news," said Henry.
On Monday evening, Washington state health authorities confirmed that five more people had died from illness caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), bring the region’s total to six.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, of Public Health, Seattle & King County, said five of the deaths were people from King County and one was a person from Snohomish County, north of Seattle.
There were reports yesterday that the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, which now has 18 confirmed cases.
On Sunday, health officials said a second person had died from the coronavirus: a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle, where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus.
Authorities said the man died Saturday.
On Friday, health officials said a man in his 50s died of coronavirus, the first death from the virus in the U.S.
Both had underlying health conditions, and both were being treated at a hospital in Kirkland, Wash., east of Seattle.
Of the new Washington cases, two were women, one in her 80s and another in her 90s.
