Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia:
“Today, we are reporting 849 new cases, for a total of 120,889 cases in British Columbia.
“There are 9,145 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 13,679 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 109,973 people who tested positive have recovered.
“Of the active cases, 456 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 148 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Since we last reported, we have had 247 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 474 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 29 in the Island Health region, 67 in the Interior Health region, 31 in the Northern Health region and one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada.
“There are currently 6,179 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed variants of concern in our province. Of the total cases, 163 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 4,041 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 76 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 2,062 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
“There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 1,539 deaths in British Columbia. Our condolences are with the family, friends, caregivers and communities of all the people who have passed away due to COVID-19.
“There are two new outbreaks at Dawson Creek and District Hospital and Surrey Memorial Hospital. The outbreak at the Long Lake Chateau is now over.
“In B.C., 1,414,644 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, 88,263 of which are second doses.
“People 35 years and older are now eligible to register for a vaccine in our age-based program on the Get Vaccinated website. In addition to our age-based and worker programs, people aged 40 and up are also now eligible to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at their local pharmacy or through special clinics in 13 high-risk communities.
“At the current rates of transmission, our health-care workers and hospitals are getting pushed to the limits to support the many people with COVID-19 who require care.
“We are taking steps to reduce this pressure and we need everyone in B.C. to do the same. Later this week, new orders will be in place to restrict vacation and recreational travel outside of your home health authority.
“We also need everyone else to do their part – staying local, in our communities and health regions, and waiting until it is safe to travel once again.
“We will get through this pandemic. As we have done before, we will do this by working together. Let’s do all we can now so we can enjoy a different summer.”
