British Columbia is reporting 1,001 new cases of COVID-19 for the entire province with four additional deaths in that span.
Of the 1,001 new cases, 26 are linked to the Island Health region.
There are currently 8,842 active cases in British Columbia while 12,608 residents remain under active public health monitoring.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 486 are in hospital – a decrease of 16 since April 22 – with 160 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of one).
Since Thursday’s numbers, there have been 215 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 626 in the Fraser Health region, 26 in the Island Health region, 93 in the Interior Health region, 39 in the Northern Health region and two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There were four additional deaths related to the virus on Friday. This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,554.
There have been 140 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in B.C. as well, for a total of 1,912 cases.
Earlier today, Island Health also reported that there has been a new outbreak of COVID-19 at Craigdarroch long-term care home in Victoria.
Also as of Friday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has reached 123,758.
Health officials also said, to date, 1,542,066 of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 88,663 of which are second doses.
“We encourage everyone to register on the Get Vaccinated website – whether they are getting their vaccine as part of the age-based program, worker program or at their local pharmacy. Everyone 18 years and older is now eligible to register for their vaccine,” reads a joint statement from Dr. Henry and Adrian Dix.
Additionally, on Friday, the provincial government brought new travel restrictions into effect which limits non-essential travel between health authorities.
The order will remain in place until May 25.
“This is a legal order under the Emergency Program Act and there will be consequences for not following it,” said Farnworth. “But these measures, most importantly, can save lives, and it’s in the best interests in all British Columbians to follow them.”
Under the new rules, the Northern Health and Interior Health authorities will be viewed as one region, as will the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions.
Island Health’s boundaries will more or less remain the same, save for some exceptions along the central coast and the Bella Coola Valley.
Starting immediately, BC Ferries also says it will deny travel to customers travelling for non-essential reasons on sailings that cross between health authority zones as defined in the Order.
The company says customers travelling on these routes will be asked if their travel is essential, and will be denied if it doesn’t fall within the provincial exemptions.
Island Health
According to the latest data provided by Island Health, there are currently 301 active cases on Vancouver Island – a decrease of six since Thursday.
Of the active cases, 190 (-1) are on southern Vancouver Island, 79 (-5) on central Vancouver Island and 32 (+0) on northern Vancouver Island.
Southern Vancouver Island includes the Greater Victoria region, Southern Gulf Islands and the Port Renfrew area.
Central Vancouver Island includes the Cowichan Valley, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni and Tofino areas.
Northern Vancouver Island goes from the Comox Valley to Port Hardy but also includes surrounding areas like Alert Bay and Sointula.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Island Health region has reported 4,434 cases.
More COVID-19 information
If there is a confirmed COVID-19 case in a school, public health contacts affected school community members directly. Regional health authorities also post-school notifications on their websites, providing the date and type of notification (outbreak, cluster or exposure) for impacted schools.
The Island Health school site can be found here.
Provincial mental health and anxiety support can be found at www.bouncebackbc.ca.
Island Health’s COVID-19 data breaks down North, Central and South Island case counts and lists the number of days since any new lab-diagnosed cases. You can find the data here along with any public exposures.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 145 million. More than 3.08 million deaths have been recorded.
Graham Cox
