British Columbia’s spring surge of COVID-19 showed no sign of slowing down Wednesday, as the province recorded its highest-ever single-day total for new cases.
In a written statement, health officials reported 1,013 new cases along with three additional deaths.
The surge continues to be driven by transmission in the Lower Mainland.
Of the new cases, 385 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 458 were in the Fraser Health region, 47 were in the Island Health region, 64 were in the Interior Health region and 60 were in the Northern Health region.
There were 301 people in hospital, 80 of whom were in critical or intensive care.
The province has administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 668,729 people, about 13 per cent of B.C.’s population. Of them, 87,351 people have also had a second dose.
Due to a delay in sequencing analysis, the province did not release an update on the number of COVID-19 variants of concern it has identified.
As of Wednesday, people aged 73 and up were eligible to receive a shot under the age-based vaccine rollout. Limited supplies of the AstraZeneca/COVIDSHIELD vaccine were also being made available to people aged 55 to 64 in the Lower Mainland.
The province is also urging people not to travel over the Easter long weekend unless it is absolutely necessary.
About 91 per cent of B.C.’s total 100,048 cases have recovered, while 1,458 people have died.