A ninth resident of North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley Care Centre Lodge has died of COVID-19.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the news at a press conference Saturday afternoon.
Another resident and an additional staff member at the long-term care facility have also tested positive for COVID-19, Henry said. A total of 37 residents and 19 staff members at the care home have now tested positive for the virus.
“The physical distancing from people is what helps us not transmit this infection between us, and this is incredibly important right now for everybody,” said Henry. “We know that we’ve had community cases for a couple of weeks now. We know that people in the community are transmitting it to each other and that is leading to the outbreaks that we’ve been seeing in long-term care homes, in hospitals.”
Henry announced 74 new cases of COVID-19 throughout B.C., bringing the number of people who have tested positive for the disease to 424.
Ten people have now died from the disease in B.C.
Henry reiterated the importance of social distancing and self-isolation as measures to help protect health-care workers and vulnerable populations.
“It’s our duty to stay close to home right now to protect those who are more vulnerable to this,” said Henry. “Now’s the time to do your best to stay home.”
