Burnaby Hospital reports new COVID-19 flare-up two days after declaring outbreak over

Feb 3, 2021 | 3:59 PM

BURNABY, B.C. — Just a few days after a COVID-19 outbreak was declared over at the hospital in Burnaby, B.C., another flare-up has been reported at the health centre. 

The Fraser Health authority says nine patients in the medicine unit at Burnaby Hospital have tested positive and it has been temporarily closed to admissions. 

The emergency department remains open at the hospital and enhanced cleaning and contact tracing has begun. 

B.C. reported 414 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, for a total of 68,780.

There were also 16 more COVID-19-related deaths, 4,426 active cases and 278 in hospital.  

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say in a joint statement that businesses need to make sure they are closely following public health orders as the province deals with COVID-19 variants.

“We know the COVID-19 variants make things more challenging as the virus is more likely to spread quickly, which is why we all need to continue to make safe choices,” the statement says. 

COVID-19 hot spots also remain in British Columbia’s Interior Health authority, where dozens of new cases have been reported in Williams Lake, Fernie and Big White ski resort.

Bulletins from the authority say there are 37 new cases in Williams Lake, seven more in Fernie and five added to the case count at Big White. 

Since Dec. 15, those three communities have been responsible for the spread of over 700 cases.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021. 

The Canadian Press