B.C. records 569 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths

B.C. reported 569 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, along with three deaths.

The three deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,397.

2:01 Pausing to remember those lost to COVID-19

The number of people in hospital with the disease remained unchanged at 244. Of those, 68 were in intensive care, an increase of two from Wednesday.

There have been a total of 86,219 cases of COVID-19 in B.C., of which 4,912 remain active.

Health Minister Adrian Dix 366,791 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, of which 87,009 are second doses.

1:18 Moment of silence at B.C. legislature to mark first anniversary of the pandemic

Dix announced Wednesday that those born in 1936 and earlier can book a vaccination appointment starting Thursday afternoon. The province originally planned to book appointments for that age group starting on Monday.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released modelling data on Thursday that showed an increase in contact rate would lead to a massive surge of COVID-19, especially in the Fraser Health region.

The numbers come as Canada commemorates the one-year anniversary of the day COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

Since the pandemic began, 2.5 million people around the world have died due to COVID-19, with more than 22,000 of them in Canada.

— With files from Richard Zussman and the Canadian Press