B.C. records 358 new COVID-19 infections as province identifies first case of Omicron variant

Another 358 cases of COVID-19 were reported in British Columbia on Tuesday as the province identified its first case of the Omicron variant.

Of the new cases, 107 were in the Fraser Health region, 53 cases were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 85 were in the Interior Health region, 57 were in Island Health, and 56 were in Northern Health.

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The province said 91.1 per cent of eligible people 12 and older have received their first dose of vaccine while 81.7 per cent have received both doses.

Factoring in children between the ages of five and 11, who started getting immunized against COVID-19 on Monday, 84.8 per cent of eligible British Columbians have had one dose and 81.7 per cent have had two doses.

No new deaths were recorded, leaving the province’s COVID-19 death toll at 2,333.

Three hundred people are in hospital with the disease, three fewer than Monday. Of those patients, 104 are in intensive care, a decrease of 11.

A total of 218,426 have been recorded in B.C. since the start of the pandemic, of which 2,889 are active.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday that the province’s first case of the Omicron variant involves a person from the Fraser Health region who recently returned from Nigeria.

Henry said 204 people who recently returned from parts of southern African with outbreaks of the variant are undergoing testing while in quarantine.

The Omicron variant has also been found in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

— With files from The Canadian Press