Health officials recorded 970 new cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia over a 72-hour span, along with 11 deaths.
There were 389 cases from Friday to Saturday and 309 cases were reported from Saturday to Sunday. Another 272 cases were reported from Sunday to Monday, the first time the province has recorded fewer than 300 daily cases since Aug. 3.
Of the new cases, 306 were in the Fraser Health region, 103 cases were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 189 were in the Interior Health region, 238 were in Island Health, and 134 were in Northern Health.
The case counts bring the province’s seven-day rolling average for new cases down to 340, the lowest since Aug. 8.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 rose by three to 303. Of those patients, 115 are in intensive care.
There are 2,882 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. The province last recorded fewer than 3,000 active cases on Aug. 8.
The 11 deaths, which included a person in their 30s, bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,333.
The province said 91.1 per cent of eligible people over the age of 12 have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 87.8 per cent have received two doses.
Monday marked the first day that children aged five to 11 were able to receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said there may be some frustrations on Day 1 for parents as other people are booking booster shots or making appointments for their first or second vaccination.
He said he understands that many parents are anxious to get this process started for their children and thousands of invitations are going out this week.
“We are off and running with the five-to-11 vaccination campaign and we ask people to be patient, and when their children are invited to be vaccinated to register and get an appointment.”
— With files from The Canadian Press