British Columbia is reporting 469 new cases of COVID-19 for the entire province with six additional deaths in that span.
Of the 469 new cases, 25 are linked to the Island Health region. The Vancouver Island-based health authority has now reported 134 cases of the virus over the last five days.
There are currently 4,305 active cases in British Columbia, while 6,820 residents remain under active public health monitoring.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 230 are in hospital – a decrease of 11 since Feb. 9 – with 66 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of two).
Since Tuesday’s numbers, there have been 100 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 243 in the Fraser Health region, 25 in the Island Health region, 46 in the Interior Health region, 53 in the Northern Health region and two new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There were six additional deaths related to the virus on Wednesday. This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,269.
Also as of Wednesday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has reached 71,856.
Health officials noted that 157,797 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in B.C, 14,316 of which are second doses.
With the Family Day long weekend approaching in British Columbia, health officials continue to call on residents to stay within their local communities.
“The risks from COVID-19 remain high for all of us, especially with the variants of concern, which is why staying in our local community and avoiding any unnecessary travel is so important right now,” reads a joint statement from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
“This weekend is the weekend to stay home – to show your family and friends you care by not giving COVID-19 the opportunity to spread.”
In hopes of encouraging British Columbians to stay safe over the long weekend, the B.C. government has compiled a list of “over 200 activities” – some virtual and some in-person – that it is funding to make spending time with loved ones “accessible for everyone.”
The list of long weekend activities can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/
Island Health
According to the latest data provided by Island Health, there are currently 230 active cases on Vancouver Island.
Of the active cases, 62 are on southern Vancouver Island, 157 on central Vancouver Island and 11 on northern Vancouver Island.
There are currently 21 people in the Island Health region in hospital, eight of whom are ICU.
Meanwhile, a total of 928 new tests have been performed in the region in the past 24 hours.
Over the course of the pandemic, there have been 1,917 confirmed cases on Vancouver Island and 1,625 recoveries.
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 1,902 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 107.2 million. More than 2.35 million deaths have been recorded.
Graham Cox
