B.C. reports 556 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths as hospitalizations continue to rise

B.C. reported 556 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and no new deaths.

It’s the second time in five days the province has reported no deaths related to the disease.

2:02 COVID-19 variants of concern in B.C.

Of the new cases, 139 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 331 were in the Fraser Health region, 27 were in Island Health, 16 were in Interior Health, and 41 were in Northern Health.

The seven-day average for new cases is 544, an increase of one from Monday.

There are 280 people in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 40 in eight days. Of those, 84 patients are in intensive care. The number of people in ICU has risen by a third since March 2.

The province reported 116 new cases involving COVID-19 variants of concern for a total of 996. Of the total cases, 130 are active.

3:41 Some B.C. business groups call for vaccine passports

There are 4,999 active COVID-19 cases in B.C. and 9,511 people are self-isolating due to possible exposure to the novel coronavirus.

More than 420,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, the province reported Tuesday.