BC health officials to give live COVID-19 update on Tuesday afternoon

Health officials in British Columbia are scheduled to give a live COVID-19 update on Tuesday afternoon.

The announcement will include several reporting periods. It follows a total of 445 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 72,750.

There are currently 4,347 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Additionally, there are 226 individuals currently hospitalized with the virus, 61 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

A total of 46 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 variants have also been detected: 29 of the UK variant, and 17 of the South African variant.

A reported 7,035 people are under active public health monitoring due to identified exposure to known cases, and there have been 10 new COVID-19-related deaths. To date, there have been 1,288 deaths in BC.

A total of 67,008 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have now recovered, and to date, 162,982 doses of vaccine have been administered, 17,562 of which are second doses.

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Last week, a new COVID-19 variant associated with Nigeria was also detected in British Columbia.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the virus mutation is associated with Nigeria and was found in a person who had recently travelled to the West African country. This is the first case of the B.1.525 variant detected in Canada.

“We aren’t entirely clear yet whether this variant also has increased transmissibility or causes more severe illness,” Henry told reporters.

“Our lab team is working with their counterparts across the country and internationally to get a better understanding of what this can mean.”

She called the emergence of COVID-19 variants concerning, noting that they give the virus “an advantage” by spreading more quickly, and potentially causing more severe illness.