Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry delivers a daily COVID-19 briefing from Victoria. (BC Government Flickr)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

NO INCREASE

Vancouver Island COVID-19 cases again remain steady, restart plan set to begin

May 18, 2020 | 3:19 PM

NANAIMO — Both Vancouver Island and British Columbia continue to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced just 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across B.C. in the last 48 hours, dating back to the province’s last update on Saturday, May 16.

None were in the Island Health region, leaving the total number of cases on the Island at 126. There are now 2,444 active or resolved cases of COVID-19 in B.C.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, only one active case of COVID-19 is present in the Island Health region as of Monday, May 18.

The BCCDC records 120 patients as fully recovered and five people having lost their lives as a result of the coronavirus.

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Health minister Adrian Dix confirmed the remaining patient on Vancouver Island is currently in hospital.

Dr. Henry said during her briefing on Monday the planned restart of B.C.’s economy will proceed with caution and with health officials on full alert.

“With the easing of restrictions and the added social interaction, the potential for flareup of new cases does go up. We will be watching very carefully and we will ensure we have the testing, contact tracing and the ability to manage any new cases that we see.”

Provincially, just 335 active cases are registered with 1,966 people fully recovered and 143 patients losing their lives to the virus.

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