B.C. health officials are reporting 139 new COVID-19 cases today including seven epi-linked cases for a total of 7,842 cases.

Three of those cases were in the Interior Health Authority bringing the total to 492 cases, of which 25 are active, with one person in hospital.

The province is also reporting 40 ‘historic’ that were detected between August 11th and September 16th in people who did not have personal health numbers. All of those cases were in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, but had not been entered into the system.

All told, the province has 1,803 active cases – a new record – with 59 people in hospital, 20 of those in intensive care.  There were also three new COVID-19 related deaths in the province bringing the death toll to 223 people.

“We need to push the COVID-19 curve back down and we have the knowledge, the tools and resources to do just that,” said a statement from the Health Ministry. “Always using your layers of protection and choosing to stick with your ‘safe six’ will help all of us this weekend and every weekend ahead.”

The province says the cases we are seeing today are a direct result of how we spent our Labour Day long weekend.

“No one intends to pass the virus onto friends or family, but it is very easy to do. It can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to develop and in that time, we can inadvertently spread it to others,” added the statement.

“That is why the actions we take as individuals today are so important to the well-being of our communities tomorrow. Let’s choose safe, let’s choose small and let’s choose to protect the people we care about most.”

A total of 5,797 people who tested positive for the virus – about 74 per cent – are considered to have recovered.