British Columbia is reporting 153 new cases of COVID-19 for the entire province with four additional deaths in that span.
Of the 153 new cases, 11 are linked to the Island Health region. This marks the third straight day that new cases have reached double digits within Island Health.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 176 are in hospital with 49 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of 3). There are currently 1,910 active cases in British Columbia.
Since Wednesday’s numbers, there have been 21 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 73 in the Fraser Health region, 11 in the Island Health region, 39 in the Interior Health region, nine in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
There was four additional death related to the virus on Thursday. This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,729.
Also as of Thursday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has reached 145,996.
Health officials also said, to date, 3,823,103 doses of all three COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the province, 443,562 of which are second doses.
This equates to about 325,000 immunizations each week over the last month.
B.C. health officials say that 74.9 per cent of all adults in B.C. and 72.8 per cent of those 12 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“It is important to note that invitations to book a second dose will only be sent after eight weeks. At this point, given the strong demand, appointments are being booked in most locations two to three weeks later,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry during a live press conference on Thursday.
“This interval is well within the safe range for everyone and data shows it may lead to a stronger and longer-lasting immune response.”
Health officials emphasized on Thursday that the modelling data in B.C. shows the province is in a good position to move to the next phase of the current Restart Plan as community transmission, hospitalizations and deaths are all declining as immunizations are going up.
B.C. is set to enter Phase Two of its Restart Plan on June 15. Health Minister Adrian Dix said that more details about that transition will be revealed next Monday when Premier John Horgan joins Dix and Dr. Henry for a live press conference.
“We’ve done the right things and we want to keep going. As we look to next week and next month, we will keep progressing through this phase – bridging from a time of orders and restrictions to a time when we can safely spend time with others once again,” noted health officials.
Island Health
Island Health has yet to reveal the active case breakdowns for Vancouver Island on June 10.
Graham Cox
