“Despite our COVID-19 curve trending in the right direction, we continue to have new outbreaks, community clusters and high numbers of new cases”

DR. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Thursday announced 564 new cases, including eight epi-linked cases, for a total of 62,976 cases in British Columbia.

There have been 15 new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,119 deaths in the province.

To date, 104,901 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 1,680 of which are second doses. Complete immunization data is available on the COVID-19 dashboard: www.bccdc.ca.

There are 4,450 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 309 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 68 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 6,816 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and a further 56,010 people who tested positive have recovered.

There have been 111 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 234 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 47 in the Island Health region, 95 in the Interior Health region, 76 in the Northern Health region and one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada.

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. The outbreaks at Vancouver General Hospital, Ridge Meadows Hospital, Hart House, Fleetwood Villa, Arbutus Care Centre and Renfrew Care Centre are now over.

There is a community cluster in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of the province, in and around Williams Lake.

Henry and Dix added: “We remind people to pay close attention to how they are feeling and to immediately arrange to get tested if they are feeling unwell with symptoms of COVID-19.

“Despite our COVID-19 curve trending in the right direction, we continue to have new outbreaks, community clusters and high numbers of new cases. COVID-19 continues to spread widely in our communities.

“We need to do everything we can to break the chain of transmission. Right now is the time to do that.

“We must all continue to use our safety basics – at work, school, home and in the community. Right now, this is our number 1 means of keeping our communities safe.

“Thank you for doing your part and choosing to bend the curve, not the rules.”