PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix on Tuesday announced 550 new COVID-19 cases, including 11 epi-linked cases, for a total of 85,119 cases in British Columbia.

There have been two new COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, for a total of 1,393 deaths in the province.

Henry and Dix said: “To date, 343,381 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 86,938 of which are second doses. Vaccine appointment bookings are now open for people over 90 and Indigenous people over 65. We remind everyone who is outside of this age group to wait to call until your registration window begins.”

There are 4,869 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 8,971 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 78,770 people who tested positive have recovered.

Of the active cases, 249 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 68 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been 133 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 319 new cases in the Fraser Health region, seven in the Island Health region, 36 in the Interior Health region, 52 in the Northern Health region and three new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There have been 182 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in the province, for a total of 576 cases. Of the total cases, 113 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 530 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 33 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 13 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Fleetwood Place (Fraser Health). The outbreaks at Fleetwood Villa and Glacier View Lodge are now over.

Henry and Dix noted: “Today marks a sombre milestone: one year since the first person in British Columbia died as a result of COVID-19. Today, we pause and remember everyone who has died from this virus and offer our condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.

“Through the loss and uncertainty that has come with this pandemic, we have seen incredible resilience, as people throughout our province have adapted to the challenges COVID-19 has brought.

“Now, with every new person who is vaccinated, we can take comfort in knowing with each immunization, we all benefit – Elders, seniors, families and communities. Let’s keep moving forward and doing our part to put COVID-19 behind us.”