B.C. reports 2,491 new COVID-19 cases over three days along with 17 deaths

British Columbia health officials on Monday reported 2,491 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days along with 17 deaths.

There were 881 cases from Friday to Saturday while 847 cases were reported from Saturday to Sunday, and 763 from Sunday to Monday.

2:21 Keith Baldrey on COVID-19 ‘circuit breaker’ trends in B.C.

Of the new cases, 466 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,632 were in the Fraser Health region, 82 were in Island Health, 206 were in Interior Health, and 104 were in Northern Health.

The seven-day rolling average of B.C.’s positivity rates is 9.3 per cent.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed that COVID-19 was a factor in the death of an infant in January. The infant was from the Interior Health region and was being treated at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

The 17 deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,571.

There are 484 people in hospital with the disease, down from a record-high of 502 recorded on Thursday. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care dipped slightly to 158, down two from Friday.

There are 8,199 active COVID-19 cases in the province — a decrease of more than 600 from Friday — with 12,340 people in self-isolation due to possible exposure to the novel coronavirus.

2:18 ‘I encourage all pregnant women to be immunized’: Dr. Bonnie Henry on safety of COVID-19 vaccination

The province said Monday that more than 1.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in B.C., 89,000 of which are second doses.

2:24 B.C. health officials confirm COVID-19 was factor in infant’s death in January

President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. hopes to provide more AstraZeneca doses to Canada in the near future, after an initial “loan” of 1.5 million doses last month.

— With files from Amy Judd and The Canadian Press