Another 500 new COVID-19 cases reported in B.C., along with five deaths

Another 500 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in British Columbia, along with five deaths, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Tuesday’s case count brings the seven-day average for new cases in the province up to 502.

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Of the new cases, 152 were in the Fraser Health region, 121 were in the Interior Health region, 76 were in Island Health, and 103 were in Northern Health.

The Vancouver Coastal Health region, the province’s second most populous health authority, had the lowest new case count, reporting 48 new infections.

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The seven-day rolling average of B.C.’s positivity rates is four per cent. Vancouver Coastal Health has B.C.’s lowest average positivity rate at 1.7 per cent while Northern Health has the highest at 16.5 per cent.

After declining over the weekend, the number of people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 rose by 19 to 426. Of those, 124 are in intensive care, an increase of three from Monday.

The five deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,223.

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There are 4,301 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, up slightly from Monday.

Earlier in the day, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said 3,071 unvaccinated health-care workers in B.C. remain on unpaid leave, a number that has declined by more than 250 since Nov. 1.

Dix added that almost 96 per cent of health-care workers have been fully vaccinated.

— with files from Amy Judd