531 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

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 531 new cases, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 85,650 cases in British Columbia.

“There are 4,861 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 9,051 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 79,309 people who tested positive have recovered.

“Of the active cases, 244 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 66 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

“Since we last reported, we have had 147 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 291 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 19 in the Island Health region, 42 in the Interior Health region, 32 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

“There have been 51 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in our province, for a total of 627 cases. Of the total cases, 109 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 580 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 33 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 14 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

“To date, 355,340 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 86,960 of which are second doses. Vaccine appointment bookings are now open for people over age 90 and Indigenous peoples over age 65. We remind everyone who is outside of these age groups to wait to call until your registration window begins.

“There has been one new COVID-19 related death in the last 24 hours, for a total of 1,394 deaths in British Columbia.

“There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks.

“We are now starting to receive supplies of the AstraZeneca – SII Covishield vaccine. This additional vaccine supply will be used to supplement our age-based provincewide immunization program.

“In particular, we will use this vaccine to assist with outbreak response in communities and within high-risk industries.

BREAKING—Call centres have been able to process vaccination appointment bookings for seniors aged 90+ days ahead of schedule. Starting March 11 at 12PM, seniors aged 85+ and Indigenous peoples aged 65+ can call and book an appointment. Please only call if it’s your turn! #CovidBC

— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) March 11, 2021

“What is important for all of us to remember is that with every outbreak that is quickly managed and every worker who is immunized, all of us have increased protection. With each person who is immunized, it means our friends and loved ones are safer and we are all closer to putting COVID-19 behind us.”