Health officials are reporting 146 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C over the past four days.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says there are 319 active cases of the virus, which is a 15 per cent increase from Friday.

“There have been a number of new cases over the long weekend. This was not unexpected. We knew that events that had happened in the previous couple of weeks would lead to more people who had been exposed developing illness. We are now seeing people who were exposed up to two weeks ago. This is a concern.”

Henry says many of the exposures have been from “overlapping social circles,” particularly private parties.

“In the immediate days following a long weekend, are when people can unknowingly spread the virus to others,” she says.

Despite the high case count, there were no deaths from COVID-19 over the long weekend in B.C. Nine of the 146 new cases were in the Interior Health region for a total of 377. It included a data correction on an epi-linked case that was later determined not to be COVID-19.

There are eight people in hospital with the virus in B.C., and four people in intensive care.