BC health officials report 564 new COVID-19 cases, four more deaths

BC health officials said on Thursday that 564 new COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed, bringing the provincially recorded total to 82,473.

During a press conference, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that by specific health region, this equates to 168 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 279 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 35 in the Island Health region, 36 in the Interior Health region, and 46 in the Northern Health region.

There are 4,743 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 248 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 63 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

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Currently, 8,659 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and there have been four new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,376 deaths in British Columbia.

As well, Henry said that 46 new cases identified as “variants of concern” have now also been confirmed in the province, for a total of 246 cases since the variants were first identified in the province. Of these, 16 cases are still active, and two have resulted in “two deaths in recent days.”

“The majority of these cases continue to be in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health region,” she noted.

A total of 76,289 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have now recovered.