VANCOUVER -- B.C. health officials announced another 762 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, breaking the province's daily case record that was set just one day prior.
The latest infections also pushed B.C.'s active case count to a new high of 6,861, while coronavirus hospitalizations topped 200 for the first time in the pandemic.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix also confirmed another 10 fatalities related to the disease, putting the province's death toll at 320.
"We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic," Henry and Dix said in a joint written statement.
Tuesday's announcement of 11 coronavirus deaths marked the deadliest day so far for B.C.
The province has now recorded a total of 24,422 cases of COVID-19. The number of hospitalizations has reached 209, breaking the previous record of 198 that was also set on Tuesday, with 58 patients in intensive care or critical care units.
"We have seen a rising number of new cases of COVID-19 across the province and we need to slow this down. We need to put the brakes on the virus and doing this requires a sustained effort by all of us," Henry and Dix said.
"While your personal efforts may seem small or (to be) having little impact, the collective benefit to every community in every region is significant. Our safety layers are there to help protect us and they work best when we are all using them, all of the time."
Updated modelling that Henry shared last week indicated B.C.'s daily case counts were doubling every 13 days, suggesting the province could hit 1,000 cases per day soon if the latest measures to curb the spread don't work.
Health officials didn't make any mention of additional or extended restrictions in the province. Earlier in the day, Premier John Horgan alluded to a "second component" of the temporary regional health order Henry imposed on the Lower Mainland on Nov. 9, which curtailed social interactions and forced gyms to submit new safety plans.
"We have a significant two weeks ahead of us," Horgan said. "Dr. Henry will have more to say on orders tomorrow."
The current order was initially scheduled to end on Nov. 23, though cases have continued to surge in B.C. since it was announced.
On top of the nearly 7,000 active cases in the province, officials said there are 9,871 people under active health monitoring due to exposure to a known COVID-19 case.
Health officials also declared three new health-care facility outbreaks Wednesday, at Menno Home, Agecare Harmony Court Estates and Peace Villa. Another outbreak at the Normanna, a care home in Burnaby, has ended.
The latest B.C. deaths contributed to a total of 100 fatalities recorded across Canada on Wednesday, making it the country's deadliest day since June.
Canada has now recorded a total of 311,109 cases of COVID-19 and 11,186 deaths from the disease.
