B.C. records 1,308 COVID cases in 24 hours breaking single-day record

Cases of COVID-19 continue to soar in B.C. with cases driven by the Omicron variant.

In just 24 hours, B.C. has recorded 1,308 cases of the virus.

This breaks the single-day record in B.C. with the previous set on April 8, 2021, which was 1,293 cases.

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This number comes on the day B.C. announced more COVID restrictions heading into the holiday season.

These include no organized indoor social events and gatherings of any size; concerts, sports games and theatres reduced to 50 per cent seated capacity, regardless of venue size; closing gyms, fitness centres and dance studios; closing bars and nightclubs; and limiting table sizes at restaurants, cafes and pubs to a maximum of six people per table with physical distancing or barriers.

The new cases bring the provincial total to 6,348 active infections. This number has doubled in just one week as it was 3,171 cases on Dec. 14.

In addition, one person has died, bringing the total coronavirus-related deaths to 2,403 people.

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Seven more people are in the hospital with the virus — a total now of 192 — but one less person is in the ICU with that number standing at 76.

There have been 756 cases of the Omicron variant of concern identified in B.C. to date with 129 in Fraser Health, 413 in Vancouver Coastal Health, eight in Interior Health, two in Northern Health and 204 in Island Health.

As of Tuesday, 87.5 per cent (4,359,335) of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.7 per cent (4,120,332) have received their second dose.

In addition, 91.7 per cent (4,252,249) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 88.9 per cent (4,120,270) received their second dose and 16 per cent (744,549) have received a third dose.

Also, 92.1 per cent (3,984,161) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose, 89.4 per cent (3,865,665) have received their second dose and 17 per cent (743,778) have received a third dose.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified 756 Omicron cases in one day, when in fact it is during the pandemic to date.