Dr. Bonnie Henry hoping B.C. Day long weekend won’t be repeat of Canada Day weekend

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry wants the B.C. Day long weekend to be very different from the July 1 holiday.

That’s when a series of parties in Kelowna led to a “community exposure” of COVID-19 with as many as 126 people infected in the Central Okanagan and more than 1,000 people self-isolating throughout the province.

“We need to pack our COVID-sense and use our COVID-sense, no matter where we are in B.C.,” Health Minister Adrian Dix added during their joint news conference today, July 30. “Physical distancing must be our closest travel companion.”

The comments were made in light of the fact that there were still 29 new cases in B.C. in the last 24 hours, bringing the provincial total to 3,591.

There were four new cases in the Interior Health region, bringing the total to 360.

Yesterday, Interior Health said the numbers of cases in the Kelowna region associate with that exposure would be updated by Dr. Henry today but that did not happen.

READ MORE: 126 COVID-19 cases now linked to 'Kelowna cluster'

There was also good news in the fact that there are only five people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19. That’s down from a peak of 149 in early April and the lowest number since mid-March.

There have been 1,865 positive tests in the Fraser Health Region, 1,076 in Vancouver Coastal, 143 on Vancouver Island, 86 in the North and 61 from out-of-province

There have been no new deaths, leaving that total at 194.

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