British Columbia is reporting 617 new cases of COVID-19 for the entire province with four additional deaths in that span.
Of the 617 new cases, 19 are linked to the Island Health region.
With reported cases climbing over 600, today marked the highest single-day number since January 7 when health officials announced 761 new cases.
There are currently 4,348 active cases in British Columbia, while 7,440 residents remain under active public health monitoring.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 224 are in hospital – a decrease of 8 since Feb. 18 – with 60 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of three).
Since Wednesday’s numbers, there have been 146 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 342 in the Fraser Health region, 19 in the Island Health region, 17 in the Interior Health region, 92 in the Northern Health region and one new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There were four additional deaths related to the virus on Thursday. This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,321.
Also as of Thursday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has reached 75,327.
Health officials also said, to date, 180,691 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 29,952 of which are second doses.
“COVID-19 continues to challenge all of us, which is why taking care of our physical and mental well-being is so important – to get us through the difficult days and get to the brighter days ahead,” reads a joint statement from Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
“We remind everyone about the importance of using all of our layers of protection: maintaining a safe distance from others, washing our hands regularly, staying home when we are ill, using a mask in all public spaces and having robust COVID-19 safety plans in all businesses.”
Dr. Henry and Dix noted on Thursday that there are currently 13 COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities and six at acute care facilities.
Health officials are continuing to urge British Columbians to stay vigilant and follow provincewide public health orders after seeing a recent uptick in cases.
“We all know what we need to do. Until we have widespread vaccine availability, these small steps make a big difference in helping to keep all of us safe.”
Island Health
According to the latest data provided by Island Health, there are currently 153 active cases on Vancouver Island.
Of the active cases, 44 (+4) are on southern Vancouver Island, 97 (-1) on central Vancouver Island and 12 (+2) 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 1,739 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 110.2 million. More than 2.43 million deaths have been recorded.
Graham Cox
