Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced new cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia. (BC Government Flickr)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

WEEKEND UPDATE

Businesses plan to re-open as COVID-19 cases stay low, no increase on Vancouver Island

May 16, 2020 | 1:27 PM

NANAIMO — The total number of COVID-19 cases continues to flatten ahead of phase two of B.C.’s restart plan coming online after the long weekend.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced 21 new cases across B.C. during her briefing on Saturday, May 16 however none were attributed to the Island Health region.

There are now 2,428 active or resolved cases of coronavirus in B.C. with 126 in the Island Health region. A vast majority have recovered with 1,932 people having been released from isolation, including over 95 per cent of those on Vancouver Island.

Dr. Henry spent the majority of her briefing speaking on phase two of the restart plan being implemented on Tuesday, May 19.

The plan allows for the opening of many businesses that were forced to close during the height of the pandemic including hairdressers, retail and restaurants for dine-in service.

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Revised orders for business owners have been posted on the Government’s website. The revisions permit personal service businesses to re-open on Tuesday, while restaurants and liquor stores can modify their operations and expand services.

All revisions are effective Tuesday, May 19.

Dr. Henry said the continued implementation of social distancing and other measures must continue for the province to move forward, especially as businesses plan their re-opening.

“There can be no flexibility on this piece. This is the most important thing that we as a community need to do to make sure we can get ourselves going again,” Dr. Henry said.

Community transmission is a primary concern for health officials as they relax restrictions on social isolation and increase the potential for exposure by opening areas of the economy.

“We have to move carefully and we have to move thoughtfully. Much of the spread of COVID-19 has occurred because in the early stages of symptoms, it’s often mild and people may not recognize it.”

There have been no new, confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island since Friday, May 8.

The number of cases did increase from 125 to 126 in that time, however the increase was attributed to a data error, not a new positive test.

One additional death was confirmed on Saturday, marking the 141st person who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

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