The Halloween weekend, which saw hundreds of Halloween party-goers on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, brought a mother-lode of COVID-19 cases and six new deaths. Dr. Réka Gustafson, B.C.'s deputy provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, reported on three 24-hour periods. From Oct. 30 to 31, BC had 352 new cases. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, BC had 389 new cases and in the last 24 hours, there were a further 379 new cases. This represents a total of 1,120 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases, for a total of 15,501 cases in British Columbia.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

VANCOUVER – The Halloween weekend, which saw hundreds of Halloween party-goers on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, brought a mother-lode of COVID-19 cases and six new deaths.

Dr. Réka Gustafson, B.C.'s deputy provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, reported on three 24-hour periods. From Oct. 30 to 31, BC had 352 new cases. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, BC had 389 new cases and in the last 24 hours, there were a further 379 new cases.

This represents a total of 1,120 new cases, including seven epi-linked cases, for a total of 15,501 cases in British Columbia.

"There are 2,945 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 6,448 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and 12,207 people who tested positive have recovered,” they said in a joint statement.

"Currently, 90 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 19 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

"Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 4,898 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 9,049 in the Fraser Health region, 265 in the Island Health region, 777 in the Interior Health region, 422 in the Northern Health region and 90 cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

"There have been six new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 269 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There have been three new health-care facility outbreaks at Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre, Hamilton Village Care Centre and Rotary Manor Dawson Creek. The outbreak at Baillie House has been declared over. In total, 26 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and two acute-care facilities have active outbreaks.

"There have been no new community outbreaks and the outbreak at J&L Beef has been declared over. There continue to be exposure events around the province. Public alerts and notifications are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control's (BCCDC) website and on all health authorities' websites.

"We have learned much about COVID-19 - what living with the virus looks like and what we need to do to keep ourselves and those around us safe.

"Testing to identify new cases, contact tracing to contain further transmission and using our layers of protection are the cornerstones of our response and the tools we will continue to use as we navigate this pandemic.

"Our goal is to continue to minimize severe illness and death, balanced with keeping as much as possible open and active in our communities. But to achieve this careful balance, we all need to do our part.

"We are going to see fluctuations and surges in some communities. And when we do, increased effort and stepped up focus will be applied, using all of the public health measures we have available to us.

"We have seen that the vast majority of people in B.C. are spending time with people outside of their household in safe and responsible ways. We thank the many businesses and organizations who are allowing that to take place with robust COVID-19 safety plans in place.

"As we look ahead, it is important for all of us to continue to pay attention to the COVID-19 transmission in our community. If there is transmission in your social circle or workplace, take the recommendations of public health contact tracing teams to heart and use all of the protective measures available to us.

"For our communities and for each of us, staying well means staying safe. It means always following the COVID-19 safety basics and when spending time with others, always taking precautions to keep ourselves and others safe."

Assisted-living, long-term care homes, seniors' rental buildings with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks

Vancouver Coastal Health:

* Haro Park Centre long-term care facility (second occurrence)

* Lakeview Care Centre

* Louis Brier Home & Hospital

* Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility (second occurrence)

* Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility

* Banfield Pavilion - 4th Floor West long-term care facility

* Yaletown House long-term care facility

* Hamilton Village Care Centre long-term care facility

​Fraser Health:

* Agassiz Seniors Community

* Amenida Seniors Community

* Banfield Pavilion

* CareLife Fleetwood

* Evergreen Baptist Care Society long-term care facility

* Fair Haven Homes Burnaby Lodge

* Fellburn Care Centre long-term care facility

* Laurel Place long-term care facility

* Hawthorne Seniors Care Community assisted living

* Mayfair Terrace Retirement Residence

* Peace Portal Seniors Village long-term care facility

* PICS assisted-living facility (second occurrence)

* Queen's Park Care Centre

* Rosemary Heights Seniors Village independent-, assisted- and long-term care facility

* St. Michael's Centre long-term care facility

* The Gateway Assisted Living for Seniors

* Good Samaritan Delta View Care Center 2 long-term care facility

Northern Health:

* Rotary Manor Dawson Creek