Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry announced 27 new COVID-19 cases in the Island Health region on Friday, a new daily record. (B.C. Government)
COVID update

Island Health record for new daily COVID-19 cases broken

Nov 27, 2020 | 3:35 PM

NANAIMO — The upward trend of increasing COVID-19 cases within Island Health continued with a record-breaking 27 new cases confirmed.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a total of 911 new cases province-wide during her Friday, Nov. 27 media briefing, which also represents a new daily record for the province.

Roughly two thirds of active cases within Island Health are found within the central Vancouver Island area, which encompasses Nanaimo and the Oceanside region to the west coast in Tofino.

Of the 183 active cases within Island Health, 112 are in the central Vancouver Island area.

The record for most new confirmed cases within Island Health hit a new high only two days before Friday’s announcement.

Dr. Henry announced 301 people are in B.C. hospitals with 69 people receiving intensive care. This is a slight rise in both numbers from the day before.

Eleven new deaths were confirmed by Dr. Henry, for a provincial total of 395 in the province since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s a cruel irony when we need to be with people, it’s the most dangerous thing we can do with this level of transmission we’re seeing in communities across the province.”

Dr. Henry said transmission of the virus within indoor settings such as high intensity gyms and religious gatherings showed how COVID-19 can overcome the most rigourous of health and safety plans.

She said transmission is now being seen more in the workplace, including construction sites and car dealerships where protections are not as extensive as in restaurants and coffee shops.

These transmissions are driven by people becoming infected outside work at a social gathering and bringing it into the workplace.

She stressed transmission isn’t often seen in places like restaurants and coffee shops where protections are firmly in place.

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