B.C. health officials are reporting 465 new cases of COVID-19, including 61 new cases in Interior Health.

Active cases are now at 4,331 with 329 people in hospital, 70 in intensive care. A further 6,864 people are being monitored by public health teams because they were exposed to someone with the virus.

There were also 12 new COVID-19 related deaths – including one at Gemstone Care Centre in Kamloops – taking the death toll to 1,090 people.

All told, there are 1,055 active cases in Interior Health with 29 people in hospital, seven in critical care.

Interior Health also says there are now 43 active cases linked to the cluster at Big White Ski Resort, after another 28 cases were identified. It means there have now been 203 cases linked to the cluster – 126 in people who live and work at Big White.

Fraser Health reported 262 new cases, 83 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 32 in Northern Health, 21 on Vancouver Island, and six in people who live outside of Canada – temporary foreign workers heading to farms and other workplaces who are being quarantined on arrival in the country.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry says there are now 92,369 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that have been administered. Interior health says it is on track to give all seniors in long term care homes their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by tomorrow, Jan. 20.

“The vaccines are our path forward to the brighter days ahead. However, until that path is wide enough for everyone, we must continue to focus on our individual efforts,” Henry said.

“To get to the finish line faster and to make our communities safer, we must stop the spread in our communities today. Let’s choose safety by continuing to do our part to protect everyone in our province.”

There are now 55,099 people who are considered to have recovered, roughly 89 per cent of the total case load in the province.