B.C. health officials say there have been no deaths from COVID-19 in this province in the past three days.

There have been 29 new cases in that time, all in the Fraser Health region. A 30th new case was also announced today, although that was from epidemiological testing at an earlier date.

There remain no active COVID-19 cases in the Interior, Northern and Island Health Authorities, and there are 183 active cases in the Lower Mainland.

There have now been 2,659 cases of the virus in B.C. and the death toll remains at 166. Nearly 87 per cent of reported cases are considered active.

During her remarks, provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry talked a lot about British Columbians travelling within their own province.

“Remember that when you hit the open roads this summer, you aren’t leaving COVID-19 behind. We need to be aware of where we are going, whether it’s a larger community or a smaller community, before we go we need to contact the local tourism association or the local Chamber of Commerce and find out what services are still available, and what may still be closed.

Henry says it’s important to be self-sufficient if you’re travelling, to not put a burden on small communities in particular.

Many tourism agencies and communities that rely on tourism have been hit acutely hard in B.C. during the pandemic, and Henry’s comments come as the province announced that 46 per cent of the 352,000 job losses this spring in B.C. have been in the hospitality sector.