COVID-19 update: 501 more people test positive, pushing B.C.'s average even higher

Vancouver -

B.C.'s daily average of COVID-19 case counts are continuing to rise as 501 more people tested positive for the disease in a 24-hour period, the provincial health ministry announced Tuesday.

In a written statement, the ministry also said one more person died from the coronavirus since Monday's update.

With the latest update, B.C.'s rolling seven-day average stands at 529 cases, which is the highest it's been since May 15.

Hospitalizations also rose over the past 24 hours. On Monday, there were 104 people recovering in hospital, but on Tuesday that rose to 111. Fifty-one of those people are in intensive care.

Of the latest cases, nine are epidemiologically linked, the health ministry said. More than a third of the new cases – 205 of them – were in the Interior Health region, which saw a surge in recent weeks. In fact, of the 5,296 active cases in the province, more than half (3,084) are in that health region.

Another 139 cases were recorded in Fraser Health and 92 in Vancouver Coastal Health. Of the remaining cases, 35 were counted in Northern Health, 28 in Island Health and two were in people who usually reside outside of Canada.

No new outbreaks were recorded at health-care facilities in the last 24 hours, leaving 10 outbreaks active.

To date, 82.7 per cent of all eligible British Columbians aged 12 and older have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Second doses have been give to 73.5 per cent of eligible residents.

Since December, 7,248,039 vaccine doses have been administered in the province.