DR. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Thursday announced 395 new cases of COVID-19, including 12 epi-linked cases, for a total of 78,673 cases in British Columbia.
There have been 10 new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,348 deaths in the province.
To date, 239,883 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 68,157 of which are second doses. Immunization data is available on the COVID-19 dashboard at:Â www.bccdc.ca.
There are 4,489 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 7,931 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 72,781 people who tested positive have recovered.
Of the active cases, 228 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 62 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
There have been 86 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 207 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 37 in the Island Health region, 24 in the Interior Health region, 41 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There have been 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in the province, for a total of 116 cases. Of the total cases, nine cases are active and the remaining people have recovered.
There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at the Revera Sunwood Retirement Community. The outbreak at the Burnaby Hospital (Fraser Health) is now over.
Henry and Dix said: “The vaccines we have available today are doing their job. Their effectiveness has been proven by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) research released last week. Throughout Canada, we are working to use every available vial to safely get vaccine into arms as quickly as possible.
“We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and ask for patience with us to ensure we are getting it right.
“Throughout the province, we are paying special attention to the variants of concern to better understand transmission patterns. The evidence has shown we need to continue doing what we have been doing and the precautions we are already taking are equally as effective with these variants.
“We are all looking ahead to the point where we can safely spend time with our family and friends, when we can travel and resume the things that have been put on hold.
“Yesterday was Pink Shirt day. We spoke about the need for kindness and compassion. We all need to keep this top of mind in the weeks ahead, because with fatigue can come frustration.
“We are confident our collective efforts will slow the spread of COVID-19. However, it is our kindness and compassion that will see us through this pandemic and into brighter days ahead.”