Island Health reported two new cases of COVID-19 today. There were 142 new cases across the province, according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.
“The daily case rates are the number of people who have tested positive today, but it does’t reflect when they might have been exposed and when their illness maybe have started,” said Henry.
There were 9,016 tests completed in the last 24 hours — indicating a test-positive rate of about 1.5 per cent, Henry said. No new deaths or healthcare outbreaks were reported in the province, but there is one new community cluster at a FedEx office in the Interior Health region. There are currently 1,494 active cases of the virus in B.C.,including 74 people in hospital, and 24 in ICU or critical care.
The province reported its first case of multi system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) today. MIS-C is a syndrome sometimes found in children several weeks after they have been infected by COVID-19, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
The CDC said the syndrome appears to be caused by an exaggerated immune response. Symptoms include rashes, fever and swelling of the hands and feet.
“We have had 15 children who have been under investigation, none of them have had any positive laboratory tests that would indicate they were associated with COVID. Today we did have one child, our first confirmed case of MIS-C here in British Columbia,” said Henry.
The child has made a full recovery and is at home, but Henry said the illness can have severe outcomes. She said the syndrome was first identified in April in Italy and New York and there was a worldwide effort to understand it and define it.
“The definition we’ve got, which is what we are using in B.C. and around the world, is children and adolescents — so zero to 19 years of age requiring hospitalizations,” she said.
Henry encouraged British Columbians to get the flu shot this season to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses.
“I want to reassure everybody we have sufficient vaccine supplies. There have been no problems identified with the supply that’s coming in. Supply chains are strong,” she said.
Today is international hand washing day and Henry used the occasion to remind people to continue to be diligent with COVID-19 safety measures.
