B.C. officials report 32 new COVID-19 cases in Island Health, zero deaths across province

B.C. officials report 32 new COVID-19 cases in Island Health, zero deaths across province
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British Columbia is reporting 648 new cases of COVID-19 for the entire province with zero additional deaths in that span.

Of the 648 new cases, 32 are linked to the Island Health region. The health authority has now reported 73 new COVID-19 cases on Vancouver Island over the past two days.

There are currently 5,070 active cases in British Columbia, while 9,155 residents remain under active public health monitoring.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 255 are in hospital – an increase of 11 since Mar. 11 – with 67 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of one).

Since Thursday’s numbers, there have been 149 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 372 in the Fraser Health region, 32 in the Island Health region, 39 in the Interior Health region, 56 in the Northern Health region and zero new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

On Friday, there were zero additional deaths related to the virus Friday. The provincial death total over the course of the pandemic remains at 1,391.

With no new deaths announced, today’s report aligns with the modelling data — presented on Thursday — that suggested death numbers have been trending downwards since the start of immunizations at the beginning of January.

Also as of Friday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has reached 86,867.

In regards to variants, there have been 79 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province on Friday, for a total of 717 cases.

Of the total variant cases, 99 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 667 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 36 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 14 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

Health officials also said, to date, 380,743 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 87,024 of which are second doses.

During Thursday’s modelling presentation, health officials also announced an easing of outdoor restrictions, allowing British Columbians to gather outside with up to 10 people.

“With the amended public health order on gatherings and events we can now go outside, but we need to balance that with keeping up our precautions when indoors,” reads a joint statement from Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

“If you are going to spend time with friends and family, socialize safely.”

Island Health

Island Health has yet to release the breakdown of active cases on Vancouver Island for March 12.

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 113.2 million. More than 2.51 million deaths have been recorded.

 

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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