BC health officials report 546 new COVID-19 cases, 12 new deaths

Jan 29 2021, 12:02 am

BC health officials reported 546 new COVID-19 cases in the province on Thursday, bringing the provincially recorded total to 66,265.

In a written update, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that by specific health region, this equates to 174 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 218 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 30 in the Island Health region, 70 in the Interior Health region, 51 in the Northern Health region, and three new cases of people who normally reside outside of Canada.

There are 4,455 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 291 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 75 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 7,176 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and there have been 12 new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,184 deaths in British Columbia.

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.

“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.”

The statement comes after cases have been surging in Whistler.

According to an update from Vancouver Coastal Health, there have been 288 cases of COVID-19 reported in Whistler between January 1 to 26, 2021.

“The majority of these cases involve young people in their 20s and 30s who live, work and socialize together,” stated VCH in a statement.

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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