COVID-19 update: B.C. reports 2,239 cases, 18 deaths as vaccine card grace period ends

A grocery store worker wears a protective face mask and gloves as a customer stands on the other side of the plexiglass divider in downtown Vancouver Wednesday, April 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Vancouver -

Another 2,239 cases of COVID-19 and 18 coronvirus-related deaths were recorded across B.C. over the weekend, officials announced Monday after the government's vaccine card grace period came to an end.

The latest case numbers, provided in a written update from the Ministry of Health, pushed the province's seven-day average for new infections to 728 per day, up from 650 on Friday. The seven-day average for COVID-19 deaths increased to 5.86 per day, the highest it's been since mid-February.

Six of the deceased lived in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, five lived in the Interior Health region, three each lived in the Fraser Health and Island Health regions, and one lived in the Northern Health region.

The number of infectious COVID-19 patients in hospital decreased to 303, including 141 people in intensive care. That's down from 319 hospitalizations as of Friday afternoon, with 149 patients in ICU.

Officials did not provide a breakdown of the patients' vaccination status on Monday, but the unvaccinated consistently represent the majority of coronavirus hospitalizations.

"After factoring for age, people not vaccinated are 25.9 times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated," the Ministry of Health said in Friday's update.

Officials also didn't include the number of patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 and remain in hospital for treatment, despite no longer being considered infectious. There were 152 such patients going into the weekend.

Fraser Health and Interior Health once again recorded the highest numbers of COVID-19 infections, accounting for 857 and 525 cases, respectively, while Northern Health continued to see the highest rate of transmission per capita.

Northern Health added 125.9 cases per 100,000 residents over the weekend, compared to 63.4 in Interior Health, 44.9 in Fraser Health, 26.8 in Island Health, and 21.4 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

B.C. has now administered 7,802,535 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, with 87.7 of eligible residents having received one shot and 80.5 per cent having received both.

British Columbians and visitors are now required to show proof-of-vaccination to take part in a number of non-essential activities, including dining in at restaurants or going to the movies, and as of Monday must do so using a government-supplied QR code.

The province's transition period, during which people were allowed to present their physical vaccine records from their immunization appointments, ended over the weekend.

Officials also announced four new COVID-19 outbreaks in health-care facilities Monday, at The Residence in Mission, Hallmark on the Lake in Abbotsford, Magnolia Gardens in Langley, and Cooper Place in Vancouver. Five others were declared over, leaving 21 active outbreaks across B.C.'s health-care system.