B.C. reports 708 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths over three days as hospitalizations drop sharply

B.C. health officials reported 708 new cases of COVID-19 over three days, along with 11 deaths.

There were 258 cases from Friday to Saturday while 238 cases were reported from Saturday to Sunday, and 212 from Sunday to Monday.

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Of the new cases, 140 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 394 were in the Fraser Health region, 18 were in Island Health, 113 were in Interior Health, and 42 were in Northern Health.

The rolling seven-day average of new daily cases is 277, the lowest it has been since Oct. 31.

The 11 deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,703.

There have been a total of 144,289 since the start of the pandemic. The number of active cases in the province dipped below 3,000 for the first time since Nov. 2.

The number of people in hospital with the disease dropped by 43 to 249, a decline of around 15 per cent. Of those, 78 are in intensive care, down one from Friday.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said a Vancouver Island man in his 30s became the third person in the province to be diagnosed with VITT, a rare blood clot disorder, following a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The province said 69.7 per cent of British Columbian adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Last week, the province announced that people will be offered a second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine about eight weeks after receiving their first dose.

People who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for their first dose are still waiting to hear when they can get a second dose.

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Henry said details will come Thursday about whether those who received AstraZeneca as a first dose can mix and match and receive Pfizer as a second dose.

— With files from Richard Zussman and Simon Little