B.C. COVID-19 update: 437 new cases, 3 deaths, Omicron cases up to 10

B.C. added 437 more cases of COVID-19 and three related deaths to its total on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry's written statement also indicates that there are now 10 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of concern in B.C., with infections reported in Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and Island Health.

That total is double the previously reported number of Omicron cases in B.C., but provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said earlier this week that more cases of the concerning variant were expected.

Henry said Tuesday that there were a number of "suspect and pending" Omicron cases that would likely be confirmed in the coming days.

"Once we start to look for it, it is likely that we are going to find it," she said at the time. "We know this virus travels quickly and it travels in people and when people move the virus strains move with them."

The ministry did not share the vaccination status of the five people newly confirmed to have Omicron. Of the first five cases of the variant recorded in the province, three involved people who were fully vaccinated, each with a different combination of COVID-19 vaccines. The other two involved unvaccinated people.

The latest numbers bring the province to 2,994 active cases. That total includes 211 people who are in hospital, 72 of them in intensive care units.

Since the pandemic began, B.C. has seen 222,013 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 2,381 deaths.

Friday's caseload is the largest single-day total the province has seen in three weeks, and it brings the rolling seven-day average for daily new cases up, slightly, to 347.

For the second day in a row, the largest share of new cases was on Vancouver Island. The Island Health region added 127 new cases to its total Friday, according to the dashboard.

Fraser Health was next highest with 105 new infections confirmed. Interior Health added 93 cases, Vancouver Coastal Health added 90 and Northern Health added just 22.

The three new deaths were recorded in Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health and Interior Health.

As of Friday, 86 per cent of eligible B.C. residents ages five and older had received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 82.2 per cent had received a second dose.