B.C. records 1,330 new cases of COVID-19 but single-day count falls to lowest in 11 weeks

B.C. recorded 1,330 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days, along with 31 more deaths.

There were 584 cases from Friday to Saturday, 445 cases from Saturday to Sunday and 301 cases from Sunday to Monday.

With the new deaths, B.C.’s total has now risen to 1,078 people.

“It is an extraordinary and difficult time for people to lose loved ones,” B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said Monday.

3:12 Dr. Bonnie Henry on young people contracting COVID-19

B.C. has not seen such a low single-day case number since Nov. 3, 2020, when 299 cases were recorded.

Of the new cases, 282 were in Vancouver Coastal Health, 548 in the Fraser Health region, 65 on Vancouver Island, 257 in the Interior and 166 in the Northern health region.

There still remained 343 people in hospital, which is down just six over the past 72 hours.

13 cases were people who normally reside outside of Canada, with some being temporary farm workers who have arrived in B.C. for the upcoming farm season.

Sixty-eight people remained in intensive care.

There have now been 61,447 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. with 54,656 people having recovered.

However, there are still 4,326 active cases with 6,865 in self-isolation.

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There has been one new COVID-19 outbreak at the Eagle Ridge Manor in Port Moody.

There remain 48 active outbreaks in the province.

Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed Monday the COVID-19 outbreak at the McKinney Place long-term care home in Oliver is now over.

It was the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in B.C.’s Southern Interior, claiming 17 lives.

2:12 Two major health regions announce most LTC facilities have received first vaccinations

In the past week, the province has received 46,675 doses of the vaccine.

However, with the delay of the Pfizer vaccine, Henry said the province is still on track to protect “the most vulnerable” by the end of March and then open up the vaccine program further in April.

Henry said about 80 per cent of residents and staff in long-term care homes in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions have now received the vaccine.

Others in more remote areas of the province are not as far along but Henry said they hope to have everyone vaccinated by next week.

Last week, the number of COVID-19 cases that B.C. has reported since the start of the pandemic topped 60,000 on Friday, as officials reported 509 new cases.

Another nine people had died from the virus, bringing the province’s death toll to 1,047.

Of those cases, 101 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 260 were in the Fraser Health region, 13 were on Vancouver Island, 86 were in the Interior Health region and 49 were in the Northern Health region.

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The number of active cases edged downward again to 4,604, while another 7,132 people remained in isolation due to possible exposure.

As of Monday, 87,346 people in B.C. had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.