British Columbia health officials announced that six new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the province, and more worrisome is that two of the cases have shown up in the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, according to CTV News Canada.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the British Columbia provincial health officer, said on Saturday the two residents were infected by a care home worker who also works at other care home facilities in Metro Vancouver. The care home has been placed under an outbreak protocol
Outbreak protocol means that the long-term care home will be limiting the number of people moving in and out of the facility, Dr. Henry said. “We know that the risk to elderly people having this disease is very concerning, particularly older people with underlying chronic illnesses,” Henry said, according to the New York Times.
“The last two cases really are the most concerning to us,” she told reporters, pausing at length at one point to wipe tears from her eyes.
It's so important that we take care of those who are most likely to get sick during the #COVID19 outbreak. Check in with loved ones and make sure we're doing all we can to avoid possible continued spread. #BCpoli March 7, 2020
“The message that I think is so important is, you need to stay home when you’re sick,” Henry said. “If you’ve travelled, even if you haven’t traveled, we are in an extraordinary situation. We need everybody to be aware, to look after their children, if you or your children are sick, stay home.”
Vancouver Coastal Health is conducting an investigation to track where else the infected employee may have worked. The employee was “identified as part of our community case that we talked about earlier this week,” Henry said. That person was the first case identified in B.C. who hadn’t traveled to any of the affected countries and had not had contact with any of the people already infected.
Adrian Dix, B.C.’s Minister of Health, pointed out that care home employees often work at multiple facilities – just to make ends meet. Part of the investigation will help to determine how many other facilities have been infected.
As for the misinformation that is rampant on social media about the coronavirus, Dix has some very good advice – “There’s no cure, there’s no vaccine for COVID-19. You see on the Internet people claim this, and I have one piece of advice: if you see someone on the Internet claiming that, unfollow them,” Dix said. “And if it’s not your mother, block them. It’s very important we deliver accurate information.”
