COVID-19: B.C. reports nine new deaths, 322 new cases

British Columbia reported 322 new cases of COVID-19 along with nine more deaths on Wednesday.

The update saw the seven-day average for new cases in B.C. inch down to 380, and left the province with 3,015 active cases.

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It was the fifth consecutive day B.C. has reported fewer than 400 new cases.

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Of the new cases, 100 were in the Fraser Health region, 50 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 86 were in the Interior Health region, 44 were in the Northern Health region and 42 were in the Island Health region.

There were 318 active cases in hospital, an overnight drop of 27, including 109 COVID-19 patients in critical or intensive care.

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The Ministry of Health said 91 per cent of eligible British Columbians have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 87.4 per cent have had two doses.

The 21.3 per cent of B.C.’s population who haven’t been fully vaccinated accounted for 58.1 per cent of new cases over the last week, and 69.2 per cent of hospitalizations over the past two weeks.

Earlier Wednesday, B.C. became the first province in Canada to mandate five employer-paid sick days for workers.

Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has reported 216,334 total cases, while 2,313 people who contracted COVID-19 have died.