VANCOUVER -- Health officials in B.C. say another 395 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. have been recorded in the province, along with 10 more deaths related to the disease.
Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix gave the update in a live briefing Thursday afternoon.
The pair said there are 4,489 active cases in the province, with 228 people currently in hospital. Of those, 62 are in intensive care.
Henry announced one new outbreak in a health-care facility at the Revera Sunwood Retirement Community in Maple Ridge. She also said the outbreak at Burnaby Hospital is now over, leaving the province with 18 active outbreaks in health-care facilities, with five of those in acute care facilities and the rest in long-term care or assisted-living homes.
So far, B.C. has reported dozens of cases of variants of concern across the province. During her briefing, Henry said were 16 new cases of these variants since her last report, bringing the total to 116.
Of the 116, 95 are B.1.1.7 variant, which is commonly associated with the U.K. Twenty-one people have had the B.1.3.1, which was first reported in South Africa.
Of those, Henry said only nine are currently active. She also said officials are unclear where about a quarter of B.C.'s the variant infections originated.
Two cases of the "variant under investigation," often associated with Nigeria, have been recorded in B.C. so far.
"All of the evidence has shown us that the things that we do to prevent transmission work against these variants as well," Henry said. "That is why we have to continue to do what we are doing."
Addressing the ongoing public health orders limiting social gatherings, Henry said officials have been closely watching the seven-day average of cases over the past month.
"What we have seen in the last two weeks is that has come up a little bit here in British Columbia," she said, adding that in some areas there is still potential for a rapid growth in cases.
"We need to keep cases low and slow so that we can control that."
Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccination process in B.C., Henry said 239,833 doses have been distributed across the province. Of those, 68,157 have been second doses.
"We have seen that the vaccines we have available today are doing their job," Henry said. "The effectiveness has been proven … rest assured, things are ramping up and we will be providing vaccine very shortly."
