VANCOUVER -- British Columbia suffered six more COVID-19 deaths over the weekend while adding another 317 cases to its tally.
Monday's update from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also pushed B.C.'s active caseload to a new record high of 1,594, up from 1,461 on Friday.
Henry said five of latest people to die from COVID-19 were seniors living in the province's long-term care system. Four were from the Fraser Health region that spans from Burnaby to Hope and one was in the Vancouver Coastal Health region that spans from Richmond up to the Sunshine Coast.
The sixth death was a woman in her 70s who lived in the province's north and "was exposed in the community after attending an event," Henry said. Her death marks the first COVID-19 fatality for the region.
"Once again, our thoughts and our condolences go to the families, to the communities, the people who care for these loved ones who they've lost under these most difficult conditions," Henry said.
The number of hospitalizations also continued to climb over the weekend, reaching 58, an increase of nine patients from Friday. The number of people being treated in intensive care and critical care units also increased to 15, up from 10.
The infections announced Monday cover three reporting periods, and include four epidemiologically linked cases. There were 137 cases identified from Friday to Saturday, followed by 119 from Saturday to Sunday and 61 from Sunday to Monday.
Together, they bring the total number of infections identified across B.C. since the start of the pandemic to 7,279.
The latest cases were offset by the 173 people who recovered from COVID-19 over the weekend. A total of 5,446 people have now beaten the disease in B.C.
Henry also announced four outbreaks in the health care system have been declared over, which she called "a bit of good news."
They include the outbreaks at Holy Family Hospital and MSA Manor, both of which suffered previous outbreaks, as well as those at Czorny Alzheimer Centre and George Derby Centre. Officials are still battling outbreaks at 13 other health care facilities, most located in Fraser Health.
Health officials once again hammered the message that people need to wash their hands, keep distance from strangers and wear a mask when distancing isn't possible. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix also repeated the province's new public health slogan of "stick to six," which was designed to help people navigate their social lives responsibly, particularly during cold and flu season.
"Letting stick to six be our constant guide to the maximum number of people we socialize with outside our household bubble stops the spread and save lives," Dix said.
Henry and Dix were also asked about the possibility of the NDP government calling a snap election this fall, and whether that would impact their twice-weekly briefings.
Henry noted that she would not be involved with an election "other than to provide advice to Elections BC about how to make sure we do them safely," and Dix suggested he could always step away if necessary.
"On a significant number of occasions, Dr. Henry has briefed alone," Dix said.
"The important thing is that the briefings and the information involved in those briefings will continue to be made available to the people of B.C."
At an earlier event on Monday, Premier John Horgan declined to say whether B.C. residents would be heading back to the polls this year.
