There have been 801 new cases of COVID-19 reported today in B.C., as well as six deaths which were all in Interior Health.

For the first time in nearly two months, since early July, Interior Health did not have the highest number of new daily COVID-19 cases. There were 237 cases today in IH, compared to 257 in Fraser Health, 128 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 103 in Northern Health and 66 in Island Health.

There are 199 people in hospital with virus, which is the same number as on Wednesday, and 116 of those people are in intensive care with the virus, which is up by four from yesterday.

There are also 58 more active cases compared to Wednesday, with now 5,931 across the province including 2,112 in the Interior.

First doses of the vaccine have risen substantially since August 23, when the province announced the BC Status Card system which will start on Sept. 13. There have been 65,985 people who have rolled up their sleeve for a first dose in the past 10 days, compared to 37,296 in the previous 10 days.

For people aged 12 and older in B.C., a total of 84.6 per cent of people have now received at least one vaccine dose while 76.9 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Today, the province also announced new restrictions today for Northern Health, similar to what was announced for Interior Health on August 20. Health officials are limiting indoor gathering sizes in northern B.C. to the size of someone’s household plus five guests, while outdoor personal gatherings are limited to 50 people. Organized outdoor events can still happen, but will need to have a safety plan approved first if they are larger than 200 people.