VANCOUVER

B.C. adds 469 new cases of COVID-19, 6 more deaths

Ian Holliday CTVNewsVancouver.ca Journalist

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2021 6:50AM PST Last Updated Wednesday, February 10, 2021 6:05PM PST

A woman wears a face mask and shield to curb the spread of COVID-19 while walking in North Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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VANCOUVER -- B.C. has added 469 cases of COVID-19 to its total, as well as six deaths from the disease, health officials announced Wednesday.

There have now been 71,856 cases of the coronavirus in the province overall and 1,269 people have died.

As of Wednesday, there are 4,305 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. That total includes 230 people who are hospitalized with the disease, 66 of whom are in intensive care.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced Wednesday's numbers in a written statement.

The pair also announced one new long-term care outbreak and the end of another.

The new outbreak was declared at Carrington Place Retirement Residence in Vernon, while the outbreak at Minoru Residence in Richmond was declared over.

Ahead of the Family Day long weekend, Henry and Dix encouraged people to stay in their local communities and avoid unnecessary travel.

“This weekend is the weekend to stay home – to show your family and friends you care by not giving COVID-19 the opportunity to spread," the health officials said in their statement. “By choosing small and safe for you and everyone around you, we can slow the virus and keep our positive momentum going."

Wednesday's new cases were located throughout the province, but the majority were found in the Lower Mainland, with 243 in the Fraser Health region and 100 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

Elsewhere in B.C., Northern Health added 53 cases to its total on Wednesday, Interior Health added 46 cases and Island Health added 25.

Two of the infections confirmed Wednesday were found in people who normally reside outside of Canada.

There are currently 6,820 people being monitored by B.C. health officials because of exposures to known cases of COVID-19, and 66,167 people who previously tested positive for the disease are now considered recovered.

B.C. has administered 157,797 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 14,316 of which are second doses.

The province's immunization program has slowed to a crawl in recent days because of unexpected delays in the delivery of vaccines from both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Henry said on Monday that the province expected its available vaccine supply to increase each week this month, with mass vaccination clinics expected to start in early March.