B.C. health officials reported 2,090 new cases of COVID-19 over a four-day period, as well as 28 additional deaths.
There were 603 cases from Friday to Saturday, 634 cases from Saturday to Sunday, and 468 from Sunday to Monday. There were also 385 cases from Monday to Tuesday. The province last recorded fewer than 400 daily cases on Aug. 10.
Of the new cases, 814 were in the Fraser Health region, 404 were in the Interior Health region, 292 were in Island Health, and 351 were in Northern Health.
The Vancouver Coastal Health region, the province’s second most populous health authority, had the lowest new case count, reporting 229 new infections over a 96-hour span.
The seven-day rolling average of B.C.’s positivity rates is 4.8 per cent, the lowest it’s been since mid-August.
There are 357 COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals, a decline of three from Friday. Of those patients, 153 are in intensive care, an increase of more than 10 per cent.
The number of active cases in the province fell sharply from 5,969 on Friday to 5,183.
The 28 deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,029.
The province said people who are not fully vaccinated accounted for 68.1 per cent of cases from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10 and 73.7 per cent of hospitalizations from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday that parents can now register their children, ages five to 11, to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, once it is approved by Health Canada.
She said the province is looking at early November to be able to provide vaccines for that age group.
Eligibility could be based on children in high-risk communities and families with multiple children that can get vaccinated together.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said vaccination rates in the province are impressive — 88.8 per cent of eligible British Columbians aged 12 and older have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 82.6 per cent have received two doses — but need to be higher.
“We need to come together now and raise vaccination levels,” he said.
— with files from Amy Judd and Simon Little