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COVID-19 CASES IN BC

No new cases on Vancouver Island as province confirms males face higher coronavirus risk

May 21, 2020 | 3:33 PM

NANAIMO — Vancouver Island continues to keep the COVID-19 curve completely flat.

For the 13th straight day, the Island Health region saw no new positive tests in the area, maintaining the regional total of cases at 126 with one patient remaining in hospital with symptoms.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.

To date, the province has recorded 2,479 total cases although just 307 remain active.

Dr. Henry used her daily briefing to speak on the epidemiology of the pandemic in B.C.

As she did during the last major data update on the pandemic in early May, Dr. Henry said despite more women than men being diagnosed with COVID-19, the number of patients in hospital and intensive care leaned substantially to men.

According to the government, 60 per cent of all hospitalizations and 64 per cent of intensive care patients have been men. Approximately 62 per cent of all deaths have been male as well.

“Our stats are slightly different from what we’re seeing in other provinces across Canada and are in keeping with what we’re seeing internationally where there seems to be a more severe effect on men than women,” Dr. Henry said.

Dr. Henry also spoke on updated recommendations from the provincial and federal government on use of non-medical masks in situations where social distancing is not possible, such as shopping or using public transit.

“It is an additional layer that is appropriate in some settings and it’s a way of protecting others from our own droplets and keeping our own droplets from going onto surfaces around us,” Dr. Henry said.

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