“We’re seeing an encouraging trend in our COVID-19 curve”

DR. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Tuesday announced 429 new cases, including 10 epi-linked cases, for a total of 68,366 cases in British Columbia.

There have been eight new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,218 deaths in the province.

To date, 140,452 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 5,097 of which are second doses. Immunization data is available on the COVID-19 dashboard: www.bccdc.ca

There are 4,542 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 294 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 82 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 7,080 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and a further 61,129 people who tested positive have recovered.

There have been 112 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 202 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 27 in the Island Health region, 51 in the Interior Health region, 35 in the Northern Health region and two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at CareLife Fleetwood Surrey. The outbreak at Heritage Retirement Residence is now over.

Henry and Dix said: “We’re seeing an encouraging trend in our COVID-19 curve. The efforts you are making, combined with the immunization of our long-term care residents and workers, are making a difference.

“With everyone in B.C. following the restrictions we have in place and always using our layers of protection, we are not only starting to slow the spread in B.C., but are also better positioned to deal with the uncertainties of the new variants of concern.

“Fewer cases is a welcome sign for all of us and makes it all the more important to keep going with the fundamentals of staying local, staying small and staying safe right now. Let’s all continue to do our part, knowing that our individual and collective efforts are working.”