Victoria, BC (WNews Vancouver) – Sadly, 28 new deaths has been recorded since yesterday from COVID19. The highest since the start of the pandemic.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the fatalities, along with 723 new cases of the virus, during her Thursday briefing.
Twelve of the deaths were in the Fraser Health region, 15 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and one was on Vancouver Island. All but two of the new deaths were in residential care facilities, Henry said.
“These are family, these are friends, these are people who had interesting and challenging lives,” she said.
“This is a profoundly difficult day for every single one of those families, for the community and for all of us,” added Health Minister Adrian Dix
“It underscores our point, I think, that even as we receive the vaccine and see potentially a better future in 2021, that our work to save lives must and will continue for some time to go.”
It means 587 people in B.C. have now died of the virus so far — 146 of whom were reported in December alone.
Both Henry and Dix pointed to the numbers in urging people to respect the provincial health orders restricting social gatherings, and not to seek loopholes in the rules heading into the holidays.
Most of Thursday’s new cases were in the Fraser Health region (456) and Vancouver Coastal Health region (135).
82 were in the Interior Health region, 40 were in the Northern Health region and 10 were on Vancouver Island.
The province also had a record 83 people in critical or intensive care, part of the 346 people in hospital with COVID-19.
There were 9,524 active cases in B.C., and another 11,947 people isolating due to possible exposure.
About 72 percent of B.C.’s 40,060 total cases have recovered.
