Expiring tonight: BC health officials, premier, to update COVID-19 restrictions this afternoon

Premier John Horgan is expected to join Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix for Monday afternoon’s COVID-19 update.

The update takes place at 2 pm and will likely include an announcement about BC’s three-week “circuit breaker” restrictions, which are scheduled to expire at midnight.

According to BC’s restaurant and bar industry, the province-wide ban on indoor dining will likely be extended into May.

The emergency restrictions were implemented in late March to help curb surging COVID-19 cases in the province. They include a suspension on indoor dining, indoor adult group fitness activity, and indoor religious worship services.

Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort was also ordered to close as a result of high transmission in the area.

• See also:
  • Everyone in BC over 18 can register for a COVID-19 vaccine this week
  • “Dance party” held on Kitsilano Beach as COVID-19 hospitalizations soar (VIDEO)
  • BC “discouraging” outdoor gatherings even though they’re still allowed

Monday’s announcement is also expected to include COVID-19 case counts over the past three days. Health officials announced 1,005 new test-positive COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 117,080.

There are 10,081 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 15,877 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Of the active cases, 425 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 127 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

As of the last update, there have been six new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,530 deaths in British Columbia.

There are currently 5,739 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed variants of concern in the province. Of the total cases, 212 are active, and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 3,858 cases of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 71 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 1,810 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

To date, 1,282,091 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, 87,970 of which are second doses, and 105,291 people who tested positive have recovered.

Today’s press conference can be streamed live on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.