B.C.’s spring COVID-19 surge picked up more steam Friday, with the province reporting 908 new cases along with another three deaths.
It was the second highest daily total for new cases the province has ever recorded, after a peak of 911 cases on Nov. 27.
It also pushed the seven-day moving average for new cases up to 699, the highest it has been since Dec. 7 when B.C. was in the depths of the pandemic’s second wave.
Of the new cases, 294 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 438 were in the Fraser Health region, 55 were in the Island Health region, 43 were in the Interior Health region and were 78 in the Northern Health region.
Active cases also grew again to 6,245, the highest recorded since Jan. 7. An additional 9,996 people were isolating due to exposure.
There were 140 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants of concern, for a total of 1,912 recorded so far. Of those cases, 258 remained active.
The province announced Friday it was moving up the vaccination timeline for seniors slightly, with phone lines now open for anyone over the age of 75. It said people who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable will begin getting letters telling them how to book their appointments.
Between Thursday and Friday, B.C. administered more than 27,000 doses of vaccine, leaving 550,062 people — about 10.7 per cent of B.C.’s populatoin — with the protection of at least one dose. Of those people, 87,223 have also had a second dose.
There were 294 people in hospital, down 12 overnight. Eighty-one of them were in critical or intensive care.
Fraser Health also declared a new outbreak at the Abbotsford Hospital in a single medicine unit. On Thursday, the health authority declared an outbreak at the Chilliwack General Hospital.
B.C. has recorded a total of 95,677 cases, while 1,449 people have died.
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