B.C. reports 509 new cases of COVID-19, 13 new in Island Health

B.C. reports 509 new cases of COVID-19, 13 new in Island Health
Province of BC
B.C. is reporting 509 new cases of COVID-19 across the province on Friday with 13 of those cases linked to the Island Health region.

British Columbia has reported 509 new cases of COVID-19 across the province in the last 24 hours with nine additional deaths in that span.

Of the 509 new cases, 13 are linked to the Island Health region.

There are currently 4,604 active cases in British Columbia, while 7,132 residents remain under active public health monitoring.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 349 are in hospital – a decrease of 13 since Jan. 14 – with 68 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of six).

On Friday, there were nine additional deaths related to the virus. This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,047.

Since Wednesday’s numbers, there have been 101 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 260 in the Fraser Health region, 13 in the Island Health region, 86 in the Interior Health region, 49 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

As of Thursday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has been 60,117.

Health officials also said that 75,914 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in B.C.

“People throughout British Columbia are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a written statement.

“As of today, thousands of people working and living in long-term care homes, health-care workers and those in remote or at-risk Indigenous communities have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

It was revealed earlier on Friday that there would be a short-term delay in the delivery of some of the Pfizer vaccines to B.C. in the coming weeks as the company upgrades its production facility, which health officials say is “disappointing.”

“We are working closely with the federal government to determine how this might impact our immunization rollout in the immediate term, and we will have more to share in the coming days,” note Dr. Henry and Dix.

Island Health

According to the latest data provided by Island Health, there are currently 175 active cases on Vancouver Island, a decrease of 14 since Jan. 14.

Of the new cases, 33 are on southern Vancouver Island, 118 on central Vancouver Island and 24 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 1,211 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.

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 88.7 million. More than 1.91 million deaths have been recorded.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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