After a drop in new case counts yesterday, the number of new cases once again is back up over 100 today and the number of people in hospital continues to rise.

In addition to an outbreak at a Metro Vancouver hospital, there were potential COVID-19 exposure incidents at a Downtown Vancouver gym and on several flights.

Daily update: September 2

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix confirmed in a news release that there are 104 new cases today (which includes six epi-linked cases).

Currently, there are 1,127 active cases in B.C., which is only three more people than yesterday.

Public health is now monitoring 2,786 people due to exposure to confirmed cases, which is 25 more individuals than yesterday.

Hospitalized cases have continued to rise for several consecutive days—the number of patients has risen from 31 yesterday to 33 today (with an increase from 10 of those patients in intensive care yesterday to 14 people today).

Unfortunately, there is a new healthcare outbreak at Surrey Memorial Hospital. CTV News reported that a patient in the nephrology unit (for kidney treatment) tested positive.

Meanwhile, the outbreak at Langley Memorial Hospital has been declared over, leaving active outbreaks in eight longterm care facilities and two acute care units.

There weren’t any new community outbreaks reported.

The cumulative total number of cases during the pandemic is now at 5,952 cases. There have been 1,974 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health; 3,112 in Fraser Health; 178 in Island Health; 445 in Interior Health; 164 in Northern Health; and 79 cases of people who live outside Canada.

Thankfully, there weren’t any new deaths announced. The number of people who have died of COVID-19-related causes during the pandemic remains at 209 individuals.

A total of 4,605 people are now considered fully recovered.

Exposure incidents

While several potential COVID-19 exposure incidents have taken place in food and drink establishments, nightclubs, and hotels, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) listed one of the first exercise or sports facilities to its list of potential sites.

VCH announced today that potential exposure at the mixed martial arts academy Lions MMA (1256 Granville Street) in Downtown Vancouver took place during operating hours from August 18 to 28

The gym, which reopened in June, announced on its website on August 29 that it voluntarily decided to temporarily close until Tuesday (September 8) while conducting a professional disinfection of the facility.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) added four domestic flights and one international flight confirmed with COVID-19:

• Flair flight 8711 from Vancouver to Prince George to Edmonton on August 24 (affected rows not reported);

• Air Canada flight 128 from Vancouver to Toronto on August 25 (affected rows 24 to 32);

• Air Canada flight 210 from Vancouver to Calgary on August 26 (affected rows not reported);

• Air India flight 1143 from Delhi to Vancouver on August 26 (affected rows 36 to 42);

• WestJet flight 3100 from Fort St John to Calgary on August 26 (affected rows 13 to 19).

Anyone in the affected rows or on these flights should monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days after the flight date. Anyone who develops symptoms should immediately self-isolate and call 811 (if in B.C.) to find out about testing.