For the first time since mid-October, British Columbia has reported fewer than 200 new COVID-19 cases for three consecutive days.
At a live briefing Thursday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said there were 199 new cases in the province, along with two new deaths.
It brought the seven-day average for new cases down to 229, the lowest since Oct. 24.
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Active cases declined again to 2,563.
Of the new cases, 68 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 89 were in the Fraser Health region, two were in the Vancouver Island health region, 34 were in the Interior Health region and six were in the Northern Health region.
Hospitalization numbers also dropped to figures last seen in mid-February.
There were 224 people in hospital, down 22 from Wednesday, while the number of people critical or intensive care fell by eight to 62.
Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has reported 144,866 total cases, while 1,709 people have died.
British Columbia has now completed 97 per cent of surgeries that were cancelled last year during the first wave of the pandemic, Health Minister Adrian Dix said.
Scheduled surgeries that were postponed this spring have also resumed at Royal Columbian, St. Paul’s and Burnaby General hospital, while the province remains on track to resume them at Abbotsford, Surrey Memorial, Lions Gate, UBC and Vancouver General hospitals by June 7.
An outbreak at Richmond Hospital means the province is now aiming to resume surgeries there by June 24, he said.
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