British Columbia health officials urged residents to celebrate Diwali virtually this year as the province reported a new daily record number of COVID-19 cases.
sa国际传媒 recorded 617 new cases on Friday, for a total of 20,985. There were 16 new cases in the Island Health region, bringing the number of active cases in the region to 67.
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health鈥檚 chief medical health officer, issued a public health order that took effect 颅Friday requiring campground and RV park owners to collect names and phone numbers of customers for contact-tracing. Information must be kept for 30 days.
Officials reported two new COVID-19-related fatalities in sa国际传媒, bringing the province鈥檚 death toll to 290 over the course of the pandemic.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement that the number of cases shows it is a critical time for sa国际传媒, and residents should work together to slow the number of infections.
They said people who would normally be gathering to celebrate the South Asian holiday of Diwali this weekend should stay home and connect virtually with family members and friends.
The plea comes a day after modelling data showed the number of cases has doubled every 13 days in the past few weeks, making it harder for contact- tracers to keep up and break the chains of transmission.
鈥淎s [Thursday鈥檚] modelling update clearly showed, this is a critical time for everyone in our province. We need to act now to protect our loved ones, our elders and our communities,鈥� Dix and Henry said in their statement.
The province also announced Friday new ticketing measures for party buses and limousines in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions.
People or companies operating the vehicles and found to be violating the provincial health order face fines of up to $2,000.
The Ministry of Public Safety said people found using limos or party buses would be fined up to $200.
All ticketing measures previously announced in August and September to enforce COVID-19 public safety at gatherings and events will remain in effect throughout sa国际传媒, the ministry said.