Story Highlights:
- 1,785 new cases, 16 new deaths
- Henry to release details on religious gatherings within days
- Surrey to be prioritized for vaccines rollout with workplaces
Victoria, BC (WNews Breaking) – B.C has just reported 1,785 new cases and sadly 16 new deaths from COVID-19. Dr. Bonnie Henry reported the new numbers at the press conference, Monday afternoon.
There have been 92,751 total cases in BC. The rolling 7-day average is now around 600. Highest since Dec 19.
The province also reported 16 new deaths. One of these is a historic death.
There have been 1,437 COVID deaths in BC. There are 166 new variant cases. There are 303 people in the hospital up to 11. There 80 people in ICU, down 5. There are 5,290 active cases and 9,333 people in self-isolation.
There have been a total of 1,366 variant cases in BC. There are 237 active cases. The vast majority are B117 cases, with 1,240 total cases linked to this variant.
Breakdown Over Days
- Fri to Sat: 556 new cases
- Sat to Sun: 598 cases
- Sun to Mon 631 cases.
The break down for health region:
- Fraser 1,010
- Coastal 469
- Interior 84
- Island 89
- Northern 133
British Columbia has administered 539,408 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Bonnie Henry says it is very good news that a US study has found a high efficacy for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr. Henry says no spring weddings and no spring birthday parties. The spread continues to happen in indoor spaces. Says they need to be pushed back into the summer. Dr. Henry – “The variants of concern are moving quickly.
Dr. Bonnie Henry is looking at direct immunizations in Surrey, the highest hit community in BC. This could include workplaces and schools. Details for come. “We will prioritize where risk is greatest.”
Surrey continues to be the community with the highest transmissions. “We are looking at various different strategies
On early COVID-19 appointments, Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province is trying to be as efficient as possible. “If there are appointments available we are trying to move people up.”
On clusters linked to youth sport settings, Dr. Henry says she is hoping to get back to games by the end of April. Says there have been ‘several instances where there have been transmission chains in the community. It led to dozens of transmissions.
Dr. Henry says the only ‘rapidly, exploding outbreaks’ are in workplaces. But the province is seeing small chains linked to things like youth sports.
On where deaths are happening, Dr. Henry says two of the deaths were connected with LTC outbreaks now over. Says several people in their 30s and 40s have been ‘severely impacted’ from COVID. Henry will provide details later this week.
Henry said during the press conference that they were working with faith leaders on allowing outdoor religious services with more details in the coming days. Henry says that things won’t be back to near normal or post-pandemic time period until around the summertime.
- 21747 (+469) cases to date in the Vancouver Coastal Health region
- 54076 (+1010) in the Fraser Health region
- 8051 (+84) in the Interior Health region
- 2956 (+89) in the Island Health region
- 5576 (+133) in the Northern Health region
- 165 (+0) of people who reside outside of Canada
- 9,330 (-82) people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases
- 5,290 (+83) active cases
- 85,746 (+1,668) recovered
- 539,408 (+49,386) vaccine doses administered
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as required.