Health officials to give live COVID-19 update on Friday afternoon

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

The announcement follows Thursday’s update, which confirmed a total of 546 new test-positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 66,265.

There are currently 4,455 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 7,716 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Currently, 291 individuals are hospitalized with the virus, 75 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining test-positive individuals are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There were also 12 new virus-related deaths, for a total of 1,184 deaths in BC.

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“Any travel beyond your local community, unless it is absolutely essential for work or medical care, is strongly discouraged right now,” stated officials.

“This is necessary because we know that COVID-19 can travel with us, and we can just as easily bring it back on our return. If it is a day trip or a weekend getaway, the risk is the same.”

To date, 127,255 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in BC, 4,185 of which are second doses. A total of 59,141 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have now recovered.

Friday’s update is scheduled to start at 3 pm and can be streamed online.