There are now 109,540 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 1,262 new cases Friday.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there have been 358 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 638 in the Fraser Health region, 54 in the Island Health region, 132 in the Interior Health region, 79 in the Northern Health Region and one new case from a person who resides outside of Canada.
There are currently 4,111 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed variants of concern in B.C. Of the total cases, 105 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 3,082 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 55 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 974 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,495 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 332 individuals are hospitalized, 102 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Over one million doses (1,025,019) of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,606 of which are second doses," said Henry.
There are 9,574 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 15,673 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 98,336 people who tested positive have recovered.
The outbreak at Eagle Ridge Hospital is now over.
Immunization Plan for B.C.
B.C. is moving forward with its COVID-19 Immunization Plan ahead of schedule, launching “Get Vaccinated”--B.C.’s online and telephone registration and booking system.
The new system kicks off the next phase of the largest vaccination program in B.C. history, with millions of people expected to be immunized. There are 4.3 million people age 18 and older eligible for the vaccine, and about one in six has been vaccinated to date.
The Get Vaccinated online vaccine registration and booking system for B.C.’s age-based immunization program is open for everyone to register and then later book their vaccine appointment when eligible.
“Avoid indoor gatherings outside of your household and avoid travel. Get tested if you have even mild symptoms and use all of your layers of protection. This is how we will slow the spread and get ahead of the virus strains that are in our communities right now," Henry said.
“Bending the rules only delays our ability to put the pandemic behind us, so let’s ensure we are not looking for exceptions to the orders we have in place, but rather looking to how we can help each other to stay small, stay local and stay strong in the face of COVID-19.”
--With files from Cindy E. Hartnett.
