For the second straight day, B.C. is reporting three new daily record highs during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are now 10,081 active cases of the virus across B.C., with 425 people in hospital, 127 of whom are in ICU. That is up from 10,052 active cases yesterday, with 409 people in hospital, 125 in ICU.
Health officials reported another 1,005 new cases of the virus today, 110 in Interior Health. There were 536 new cases in Fraser Health, 259 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 51 in Northern Health, and 49 on Vancouver Island.
There are now 5,739 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed variants of concern in our province, with 212 currently active. This includes 3,858 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 71 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant, and 1,810 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
There have now been 1,282,091 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine administered in the province, 87,970 of which have been second doses.
“Spending time outside is important for our physical and mental well-being. But we have to remember that while being outside with others is much lower risk than being inside, it is not without risk,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said. “Even if we are outside, we need to stay small and continue to use our layers of protection. This means keeping a safe distance and wearing masks, especially if someone is higher risk for serious illness.”
“Be purposeful about who you are seeing and where you are going, and stick with the same close contacts.”
There were six new deaths reported today, taking the total to 1,530 across the province. There are also 15,877 people being actively monitored by public health as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
“It is easy to look for loopholes, but rather let’s look for how we can keep each other safe,” Henry added.
“We need to stay local and stay in our neighbourhoods. We need to stay outside and with our same close friends. So let’s all do our part this weekend so we can stop the spread and put COVID-19 behind us.”
There a now 105,291 people who are considered to have recovered from COVID-19, about 90 per cent of the total.
