And then there were 1,001.

Interior Health has crossed 1,000 total cases of COVID-19, as the province has reported a record 617 new cases.

“Unlike many milestones, this is not the one to celebrate. It is an important reminder of how we should all focus on the precautions that protect ourselves, our loved ones and communities; especially right now as our cases are on the rise,” IH chief medical health officer Dr. Albert De Villiers says.

Earlier this week, IH warned of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the region and recommended people not to travel to the Lower Mainland if they don’t have to, or any other regions where case counts are growing rapidly.

Of the new cases reported today in B.C., 42 were reported within Interior Health.

Active cases are at 5,579, including now 173 with IH. There are also now 12,016 people isolating who were exposed to someone with the virus which is nearly 1,000 people more than yesterday.

Province-wide, there are now 167 people in hospital with the virus and 50 of those people in intensive care. There is one person in hospital in the Interior, and that person is in intensive care.