PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix on Friday announced 1,001 new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 123,758 cases in British Columbia.

There have been four new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,554 deaths in the province.

There are 8,842 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 12,608 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 113,139 people who tested positive have recovered.

Of the active cases, 486 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 160 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been 215 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 626 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 26 in the Island Health region, 93 in the Interior Health region, 39 in the Northern Health region and two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There are two new health-care outbreaks at Craigdarroch Care Centre (Island) and Sandalwood Retirement Resort (Interior).

In B.C., 1,542,066 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, 88,663 of which are second doses.

Henry and Dix said: “We encourage everyone to register on the Get Vaccinated website – whether they are getting their vaccine as part of the age-based program, worker program or at their local pharmacy. Everyone 18 years and older is now eligible to register for their vaccine.

“We must all continue our efforts to keep communities safe, protect our loved ones and support B.C.’s health-care system from the pressures COVID-19 places upon it.

“Today, the Province has issued a new order to limit non-essential travel in B.C. Under the Emergency Program Act, non-essential travel is prohibited between three regional zones in the province, using health authority boundaries. These zones are the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley (Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health), Vancouver Island (Island Health) and the Interior and North (Interior and Northern Health).

“The message remains the same – by staying in our local communities, we will prevent the spread of this virus and move forward together to a time when it is behind us.

“With this order, the Province is also working with partners to increase highway signage along the border with Alberta, with BC Ferries to restrict non-essential vehicle passage and with tourism and accommodation industry associations to support operators and businesses in declining bookings from outside of their regional zones.

“Now is the time to stay close to home and to get vaccinated as soon as you are eligible, to keep yourself, your family and your community safe.”