VANCOUVER -- B.C. health officials announced 485 more cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths from the disease Wednesday.
The update - delivered in the form of a written statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix - leaves B.C. with a total of 4,299 active cases of the coronavirus.
Of that total, 303 people are hospitalized, and 74 of those are in intensive care.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 65,719 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. and 1,172 people have died.
"We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic," Dix and Henry said in their statement.
As of Wednesday, B.C. has administered 124,365 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 4,160 of which have been second doses. Additionally, 58,778 people who tested positive for the disease have recovered.
Henry and Dix also announced two new outbreaks of the coronavirus on Wednesday, both of them in the Fraser Health region.
Two staff members at Glenwood Seniors Community, a long-term care home in Agassiz, have tested positive for COVID-19, as have nine inmates and two workers at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge, the health authority said in a news release earlier in the day.
The outbreak at Villa Cathay care home in Vancouver is now over, according to Henry and Dix.
“We continue to see new community clusters around the province – in the Fernie and Williams Lake regions, and elsewhere," the pair said. "These hot spots show, once again, how easily the virus spreads between us."
There are 6,520 people under active public health monitoring because of exposures to known cases of the coronavirus, and cases were reported throughout the province on Wednesday.
Most of the new cases were found in the Lower Mainland, with 210 in Fraser Health and 115 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in B.C., Interior Health added 83 cases on Wednesday, while Island Health added 45 and Northern Health added 32.
B.C. confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Jan. 27, 2020, and announced the discovery the following day.
With the province now at the one-year mark since the virus arrived, Henry and Dix thanked British Columbians for their efforts to control its spread and urged them to remain vigilant.
“When we are tired, it is easy to let things slip and let our guard down," the health officials said. "In these days – when COVID-19 vaccinations are starting, but for most of us are still weeks or months away – the actions we take may seem small, but will have a big impact to stop the virus in its tracks."
“Let’s encourage those around us to do the right thing and show kindness and compassion to those who appear not to be," they concluded. “As we have seen over the past year, one case can turn into thousands. But just as important, the effort we put into keeping ourselves and each other safe can also push our COVID-19 curve back down again.”
