BC health officials announce record-breaking 46 COVID-19-related deaths since Friday

British Columbia health officials have announced a record three-day high of 2,364 new test-positive coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 33,238.

During a press conference on Monday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said there were 750 cases reported from Friday to Saturday, 731 from Saturday to Sunday, and 596 from Sunday to Monday.

Broken down by health region, this equates to 371 new cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,365 new cases (plus 277 “historical cases”) in the Fraser Health region, 58 new cases in the Island Health region, 212 new cases in the Interior Health region, 73 new cases in the Northern Health region, and one new case from a person who resides outside of Canada.

There were also 46 more deaths over the weekend – the highest recorded number in the province over three days, bringing the death toll to 441. According to BC’s Health Minister Adrian Dix, this broke down to 15 deaths between Friday and Saturday, 17 deaths between Saturday and Sunday, and 14 deaths from Sunday to Monday. By health region, 35 of the deaths were in Fraser Health, while 11 of them were in Vancouver Coastal Health.

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There are currently 8,855 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 10,139 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

Currently, 316 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 75 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Henry said five new health-care facility outbreaks, and one new community outbreak have now been confirmed. In total, 57 long-term care, and five acute care facilities are dealing with an outbreak.

“If you are thinking that it may be okay for you to bend the rules, remember that COVID-19 is a serious, life-threatening illness,” said Henry. “By choosing to make the exception for yourself, you are not only going against all that we are doing to slow this virus down and putting yourself at risk, but you are also endangering the lives of others.”

Right now, she said, “we are facing a significant storm surge, which is why, with the start of vaccine availability only a few short weeks away, it is so important for all of us to work together to keep our wall strong, to push back on COVID-19 united and together.”

She urged people to “remember that you are not alone in your sacrifice; it is our collective effort that makes the difference and will see us through. We have done this before and we can do it again. Let’s do our part today to slow community transmission, to slow COVID-19 and protect everyone in our province.”

Henry said that 23,111 individuals who tested positive have now recovered.