VANCOUVER -- At the end of another week of a spike in COVID-19 cases, B.C. health officials announced another 84 on Friday.
In a news release sent out in the afternoon, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry added there have been no new deaths since the update that came the day before.
There are now 629 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, including 12 people who are in hospital with the coronavirus, four of whom are in intensive care.
Two of the cases announced Friday are epidemiologically linked, meaning health officials believe the person had the virus because of their proximity to a known case, but the person was never tested.
More than 2,000 people are currently being monitored by public health officials as a result of exposures to known cases of the virus, Dix and Henry said Friday.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 4,358 cases in B.C., and 3,533 people who have previously tested positive are now recovered.
Friday's update also included one new outbreak in a health-care facility in the Fraser Health region. That outbreak is at Queen's Park Care Centre in New Westminster.
There are now nine ongoing health-care outbreaks in B.C. Seven are in long-term care homes and two are in acute care facilities.
The update comes after a week in which B.C. saw its recent surge in cases continue, with three consecutive days of at least 75 additional confirmed cases announced. Friday marks the first time B.C. has ever announced more than 75 new cases of COVID-19 on three consecutive days.
Much of the recent surge in cases has been seen among people under the age of 40, a fact underscored during a live briefing on the province's modelling of the virus on Thursday.
On Friday, Dix and Henry reiterated their call for people to be role models for their friends and family members who might have become less diligent in practising COVID-19 safety measures.
“Remember that each new interaction outside your bubble holds a risk that you then bring back to your family and friends," the officials said. "In these circumstances, we must stand together, by staying apart."
The vast majority of B.C.'s COVID-19 cases continue to be located in the Lower Mainland, with 2,276 confirmed in the Fraser Health region and 1,354 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in the province, there have been 399 confirmed cases in Interior Health, 150 in Island Health and 107 in Northern Health. There have also been 72 cases recorded in B.C. among people who reside outside of Canada.
