Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry delivered an update of COVID-19 modelling data on Friday, April 17 prior to her daily update. (BC Government Flickr)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

FLATTEN THE CURVE

Island COVID-19 numbers hold firm, B.C. in ‘eye of the storm’

Apr 17, 2020 | 3:42 PM

NANAIMO — British Columbia’s fight against COVID-19 continues to be won, however the end is still nowhere in sight.

The provincial health office reported 43 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. over the last 24 hours for a total of 1618. No new cases were confirmed on Vancouver Island, with 94 confirmed cases in the Island Health region.

In a statement from Dr. Bonnie Henry and health minister Adrian Dix, the province stated there are still a lot of potential damage COVID-19 can do in the community.

“We are in the eye of the storm in a Category 5 hurricane. The risk is still very high and there are many unknowns, but we are hopeful that with all of us standing strong, the storm will continue to lessen.”

The statement also said 966 people had fully recovered from COVID-19 and no longer required isolation.

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Earlier Friday, Dr. Henry and Dix delivered updated modelling data showing past, present and projected COVID-19 curves.

The data showed B.C. is making steady progress in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

However, Dr. Henry cautioned the long list of restrictions can’t be dropped all at once.

“It’s not going to be the same, our new normal for the coming months and it may be some time, there are going to be modifications of what we’re seeing now,” Dr. Henry said at the briefing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced new funding to clean up what he called “orphaned wells”. The money will go towards restoring abandoned oil and gas wells in a bid to create work for employees of the hard hit sector.

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