So far, any impact from the May long weekend upon case counts hasn’t manifested.

Due to the incubation period, any increased transmission due to recent holiday could appear anytime this week or next week.

But something that makes the most recent long weekend different compared to previous ones is the increased number of people who have received COVID-19 vaccines so it remains to be seen if the immunization program mitigated any increased transmission during that time period. 

Meanwhile, for a second consecutive day, B.C.’s new case count has remained below the 200 mark, and there are decreases in case counts in other categories as well. 

B.C. update: June 2

Today, B.C. has 194 new cases (including two epi-linked cases), according to a joint statement from B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

The geographic distribution of today’s new cases differs from the norm, with Vancouver Coastal Health and Interior Health having the same number. By region, today’s new cases include:

• 122 new cases in Fraser Health (63 percent);
• 33 in Vancouver Coastal Health (17 percent);
• 33 in Interior Health (17 percent);
• four are in the Northern Health (two percent);
• two in the Island Health (one percent);
• no one from outside of Canada.

Once again, active cases continue to decline—a drop of 138 cases leaves us with 2,662 active cases today.

The number of hospitalized cases also decreased. Today, there are 246 individuals are in hospitals (eight fewer cases than yesterday), and 70 of those patients are in intensive care unit (a decrease of 10 cases since yesterday).

In spite of the progress, there are, sadly, four new COVID-19-related deaths—a tragic reminder that the coronavirus remains a deadly threat. The total number of fatalities in B.C. is now at 1,707 people who have died during the pandemic.

An additional 339 recoveries since yesterday has raised the cumulative total number of recoveries during the pandemic to 140,238.

So far, B.C. has recorded a cumulative total of 144,667 COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic. By region, the total includes:

• 84,315 cases in Fraser Health (58 percent);
• 34,947 in Vancouver Coastal Health (24 percent);
• 12,454 in Interior Health (nine percent);
• 7,689 in Northern Health (five percent);
• 5,062 in Island Health (three percent);
• 200 people from outside of Canada (less than one percent).

In B.C.’s immunization program, a total of 3,365,286 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, and 208,145 of those are second doses.

As of today, 71 percent of all adults in B.C. and 68 percent of those 12 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Outbreaks and exposures

Also for a second consecutive day, none of the five regional health authorities listed any new healthcare or community outbreaks, public exposure events, or workplace closures, which is good news.

Loblaw listed the Real Canadian Superstore at 45779 Luckakuck Way in Chilliwack as having one staff member, who last worked at the location on May 17, who tested positive.

McDonald’s listed two locations with staff members who tested positive:

• 2330 Ottawa Street in Port Coquitlam, where an employee who tested positive last worked on May 29;
• 3230 Mt Lehman Road in Abbotsford, where one employee who tested positive last worked on June 1.