A GoFundMe created to assist nurses caring for residents at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in Vancouver has exceeded its fundraising goal.
The care centre is dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19, and has seen 11 deaths so far.
David Wong, a pharmacist from Vancouver, along with five other people, have assembled a “COVID-19 Task Force” to help those affected during the health crisis.
“This is the hardest hit area in BC with most of the deaths,” Wong wrote on the campaign site. “We hope by providing these nurses the masks they have requested, they are able to offer immediate care for the seniors at Lynn Valley Care Centre.”
“Over 40 nurses across the Lower Mainland have offered to provide extra help at North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley Care Centre, which has been the centre of a coronavirus outbreak,” Wong added.
“This same group of nurses have asked to be provided with specialized N95 masks to protect themselves while they are on duty.”
The team's goal was to raise $8,000 in order to purchase 2000 units of the N95 masks to donate to the facility or any other hospitals in need.
At the time of this writing, the campaign has reached $8,347.
Yesterday, health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced 42 new coronavirus cases in BC, bringing the provincial total to 659.
Henry added that one more person died in the outbreak at the Lynn Valley Care Centre, bringing the number of deaths in the province to 14.
By region, there are 339 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 218 in Fraser Health, 47 on Vancouver Island, 46 in the Interior and nine cases in the north.
Henry will provide another update on the pandemic this afternoon.
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