Just days after announcing the province had tested 6,300 people for COVID-19, BC’s Health Minister says the province has continued to ramp up testing efforts.

Adrian Dix was speaking as 83 new cases were announced on Tuesday, largely due to a backlog of cases being confirmed by the BC Centre for Disease Control.

He says there are now five sites across B.C. testing for COVID-19, in addition to other laboratories like LifeLabs.

“Really since we last announced on Friday, the number of tests that had been completed in British Columbia, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in testing, a double and then some, which represents extraordinary work,” Dix said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 186 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in BC – the most in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province is anticipating an increase in the number of confirmed cases in the coming days.

The province also declared a public health emergency on Tuesday, giving Dr. Henry the authority to issue verbal orders.

“This is not forever, but it is for now,” she said, at the time.