Another new case is linked to the Lynn Valley Care Centre

Health minister asking retired doctors and nurses in the province to help out amid COVID-19 outbreak

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The province announced 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including three administrative workers at Lions Gate Hospital.

Health Minister @adriandix NOW making unusual request to ask retired doctors and nurses to please reach out to help because overall staffing levels need to be boosted. #Covid_19 @NEWS1130 — Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) March 13, 2020



Now, Health Minister Adrian Dix is asking recently retired doctors and nurses in the province to help boost staffing levels where needed amid the virus outbreak.

“We’ve asked people who are recent retirees, both as doctors and nurses, if they’re prepared to come back,” he said. “But we’ve had, today, an excellent response. It shows, I think, the commitment of the medical community to people here. So we are doing work right now with the doctors on all of these issues.”

Dix said there is work being done on bettering practices to deal with more patients remotely and facilitate testing for those who need to be tested.

Of the new coronavirus cases, another is linked to the Lynn Valley Care Centre, while five more are linked to people who travelled abroad, including one who arrived from Mexico.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said two of the cases are still under investigation, but all those recorded Friday are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Henry again stressed there’s no need to test people who are not sick or showing symptoms of the virus, and she also asked employers to stop requesting doctor’s notes from sick employees.

“We know that it’s not spreading widely in our community yet. And at some point, if it is spreading quite widely, we won’t be testing most people. We will only be testing people who are in hospital, or where there is a cluster, or where there is an outbreak potential so that we’re able to manage those effectively,” Henry explains.

For British Columbians who are out of the country now, Henry said they will have to isolate themselves for two weeks upon returning to Canada.

She added most coronavirus testing is now has been done at community clinics and that supply shortage is across the board.

Meanwhile, the 811 call centre set up to deal with the pandemic has received more than 10,000 calls.

The province’s number of cases reached 64 on Friday.

For the latest information on the COVID-19 situation, click here.