B.C. reports 711 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths

Another 11 people have died of COVID-19 in British Columbia.

In a written statement Friday, health officials announced 711 new cases of COVID-19, and said the province’s death toll had climbed to 492.

It was the 11th consecutive day B.C. has recorded double-digit fatalities linked to the disease.

1:13 COVID-19 survey on British Columbian’s experiences with pandemic

Officials reported 9,050 active cases, while an additional 10,957 people were isolating due to possible exposure.

The majority of the new cases were in the Fraser Health region (427) and Vancouver Coastal Health region (143).

Ten were on Vancouver Island, 81 were in the Interior Health region and 50 were in the Northern Health region.

Vancouver Coastal Health’s chief medical health officer Dr. Patricia Daly said Friday that the region’s share of daily new cases was dropping.

“Over recent months, including in the last month, we see very little transmission in public settings,” Daly said.

“There are small clusters in work settings but restaurants and stores and other public settings are doing an excellent job with their COVID safety plans.”

There were 338 people in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 13 from Thursday. Seventy-six people were in critical or intensive care.

As of Friday, there were also COVID-19 outbreaks in eight B.C. hospitals: Burnaby Hospital, Langley Memorial Hospital, Lions Gate Hospital, Richmond Hospital, Ridge Meadows Hospital, Saanich Peninsula Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, West Coast General Hospital and the University Hospital of Northern B.C.

About 71 per cent of B.C.’s 36,133 total cases have recovered.