B.C. reports 485 new COVID-19 cases, fewest deaths in two months

British Columbia reported 485 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, along with four deaths — the fewest in a 24-hour period in more than two months.

It came as B.C. marked one year since the first active case of the virus was discovered here.

“We have a long, long way to go,” Premier John Horgan said Wednesday.

“I want British Columbians to reflect on how much they’ve sacrificed over the past 12 months, and ask you to dig down a little bit deeper, find that extra gear to get through the next number of weeks and months as we get our vaccine program up and running.”

3:40 Coronavirus: Premier John Horgan reflects on the last 12 months of the pandemic in B.C.

In a written statement, health officials said 115 cases were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 210 were in the Fraser Health region, 45 were in the Island Health region, 83 were in the Interior Health region and 32 were in the Northern Health region.

The number of patients in hospital had fallen to 303 — also the lowest that figure has been in two months. Seventy-four of those patients were in critical or intensive care.

B.C. has administered 124,365 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, of which 4,160 were second doses.

There were 4,299 active cases, while another 6,520 people were in isolation due to possible exposure.

About 89 per cent of B.C.’s 65,719 total cases have recovered, while 1,172 people have lost their lives.