B.C. COVID-19 update: 185 new cases, 3 deaths, rolling average back over 100

Vancouver -

B.C.'s rolling seven-day average for daily COVID-19 infections has risen over 100 for the first time since June.

The province's Ministry of Health announced 185 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the rolling average to 115.

The average is now the highest it's been since June 16, when it was 119. The 185 cases added to B.C.'s total Wednesday was the largest single-day increase in infections since June 5, when the province added 217 cases to its total.

Officials also announced three COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday.

The latest infections bring the total number of cases recorded in B.C. during the pandemic to 149,444. There have been 1,771 deaths.

The majority of new cases reported Wednesday were in the Interior Health region, where 113 new infections were recorded.

Interior Health has been experiencing a spike in cases in recent days, something health officials have attributed to young people who are not yet fully vaccinated, as well as lower overall vaccination rates in the region.

In response to the recent surge in infections, authorities announced Wednesday that they were re-introducing a mask mandate for indoor public spaces in the Central Okanagan region. They also declared a COVID-19 outbreak in that area, which includes the City of Kelowna and several surrounding communities.

Elsewhere in B.C., caseloads have been rising more gradually. Wednesday's update included 35 new cases in Fraser Health, 26 in Vancouver Coastal Health, eight in Island Health and two in Northern Health.

There has also been one new case recorded in a person who normally resides outside Canada, according to health officials.

As of Wednesday, there are 909 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., 503 of them in Interior Health. Active cases were last over 900 on June 28, when there were 930.

Among those currently battling the virus in B.C., 47 are in hospital. Twenty of them are in intensive care units.

Just under 81 per cent of eligible people ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in B.C., and 63.2 per cent of people in that age group have now received both doses.