B.C. reports 8 more COVID-19 deaths, 521 new cases, expands vaccine registration to youth

British Columbia reported 521 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, along with eight additional deaths.

It brought B.C.’s seven-day moving average for new cases to 481, the lowest it’s been since March 2.

In a written statement, B.C. health officials said the number of people in hospital had also fallen by 20 to 340, while 118 people were in intensive care units.

Both figures were the lowest they have been since early April.

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The number of active cases fell to 4,815, the fewest in more than two months.

Of the new cases, 77 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 335 were in the Fraser Health region, 18 were in the Island Health region, 62 were in the Interior Health region and 29 were in the Northern Health region.

More than 2.48 million British Columbians have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, representing more than 48 per cent of B.C.’s population.

On Wednesday, vaccine registration opened for people aged 12-17. The province will announce more details about youth immunization on Thursday.

Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has recorded 140,596 cases and 1,658 deaths.

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