Vancouver Island has its first presumptive case of COVID-19, a聽man in his 60s who recently travelled to Egypt, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Wednesday.
Henry said there were seven new confirmed cases in 乌鸦传媒, bringing the total in the province to 46.
Presumptive cases are ones with an initial positive test result that still has to be confirmed by the 乌鸦传媒 Centre for Disease Control.
鈥淭his is a man in his 60s who was travelling in Egypt with some friends,鈥� Henry said at a news conference.
Henry said the presumptive case announced Wednesday is not related to a person Glenlyon-Norfolk School said was being tested. 鈥淣ot that I鈥檓 aware of,鈥� Henry said. She would not specify where on the Island the man lives. Officials are still tracking down a few of the man鈥檚 close contacts.
On Tuesday, Glenlyon-Norfolk closed its two campuses, in Oak Bay and Victoria, saying a member of its community was being tested for COVID-19. The person had recently travelled, fell ill and on the advice of a physician was tested for COVID-19. The individual was in the school 鈥渇or a聽significant period of time鈥� last week, the school said in a letter to parents on Monday night.
The closing effectively let students out early for spring break.
Glenn Zederayko, Glenlyon鈥檚 head of school, said the results of testing have not come back. 鈥淲e are optimistic that we will have results to share on Friday at the latest,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淲e continue to work with the 乌鸦传媒 Medical Health Officer to guide us in our actions, and we continue to hear that this does not appear to be a high-risk case.鈥�
鈥淲e are very sorry that we cannot give you more information at this point and we know that this is very frustrating,鈥� said Zederayko. 鈥淧lease know we are continuing to do our best to keep the school a safe and healthy place for everyone while respecting privacy concerns.鈥�
Henry said no schools in 乌鸦传媒 have been told to close. 鈥淪chools have made decisions to close based on their own reasons,鈥� she said.
Henry said she has the power to order the closing of schools in 乌鸦传媒 under the Public Health Act, but so far she doesn鈥檛 believe that鈥檚 necessary, especially if people keep their distance from each other, wash their hands frequently and stay home if they鈥檙e sick.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole lot of pros and cons involved in closing schools, which we are continually evaluating,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t really is a matter of judging it as it comes.鈥�
Henry said she can also order the cancellation of public events in 乌鸦传媒, including sporting events, but she has yet to use her powers.
Some organizers have postponed or cancelled events on their own, including the 乌鸦传媒 Council of Forest Industries, which has scrapped its annual convention in Prince George from April 1 to 3.
The province put more focus on enhancing prevention of the novel coronavirus at long-term care facilities to protect vulnerable elderly people and staff, Henry said.
More screening of employees and visitors will be done at the facilities, which will be off limits to groups of people visiting loved ones.
鈥淥ne of the things that has become apparent to us is how fragile our long-term care system is and how we need to be doing more to enhance our prevention for people in long-term care and our assisted living facilities.鈥�
She said visitors should stay away if they have any respiratory illness.
Previously, people were advised to phone long-term care homes ahead of time if they had a cold, for example.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 say we鈥檙e stopping visitors, but [there will be] restriction of visitors and making sure nobody comes in that has any respiratory infection,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淲e want to make sure we don鈥檛 do things like have group sessions where people are interacting with multiple people.鈥�
She said visitors should take care to visit only their family member and then leave the premises.
鈥淵ou make sure you take all the precautions that we know are important for preventing transmission of infection, like cleaning our hands and really, really, particularly, staying away if you are ill.鈥�
Henry said the Lynn Valley Care Centre is the only long-term care facility in 乌鸦传媒 that has had a positive test for COVID-19.
Three of the new cases are linked to Egypt and include a visitor in his 70s whose relatives in the Fraser Valley are now also in isolation, she said.
Earlier Wednesday, Premier John Horgan held a conference call with faith leaders from different denominations to discuss the outbreak with Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
Horgan said he wants faith leaders to be as up-to-date as possible about the government鈥檚 efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus because people often turn to them for comfort, aid and advice.
鈥� With The Canadian Press
