COVID-19 update: B.C. adds 1,129 cases, 5 deaths over 72 hours

Another 1,129 cases of COVID-19 and five related deaths were recorded across British Columbia over the weekend, as the province marked a new milestone in childhood vaccinations.

The latest numbers, provided by the Ministry of Health on Monday evening, increased B.C.'s seven-day average for infections to 373 per day, up from 347 on Friday.

The seven-day average for coronavirus-related deaths decreased to 3.43 per day, down from 4.29 per day last week.

The number of infectious COVID-19 patients in hospital also dropped to 185, the lowest it's been since Aug. 30. The number of those patients in intensive care remains at 72.

Meanwhile, the province surpassed 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered to children between the ages of five and 11. A total of 69,361 children in that age group have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of nearly 20,000 from Friday.

Overall, 86.5 per cent of eligible B.C. residents have received at least one dose, and 82.3 per cent have received two, according to the ministry.

The unvaccinated consistently make up the majority of the province's case numbers and hospitalizations, despite representing less than 17 per cent of the population, including babies, toddlers and children under the age of five, who are too young to be vaccinated.

People who weren't vaccinated accounted for 52 per cent of cases identified from Dec. 3 to 9, and 63 per cent of hospitalizations between Nov. 26 and Dec. 9.

Some 307 of the weekend's infections were recorded in the Island Health region, giving it the highest number of cases per capita of B.C.'s health authorities.

Earlier on Monday, Island Health revealed that several cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in clusters linked to University of Victoria students, 124 of whom have become sick following a number of off-campus parties last week.

The Ministry of Health did not provide an updated total of the province's Omicron cases on Monday, but said the government will be releasing more information on Tuesday.