COVID-19 in B.C.: 87 new cases as province hits 5 days below 100
B.C. health officials announced 87 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, marking the fifth consecutive day the province's daily count has stayed below 100.
In a written statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix also announced one death related to the coronavirus.
"Our condolences are with the family, friends and caregivers of the people who have died as a result of COVID-19," Henry and Dix said in their statement.
Currently, there are 1,119 active cases of the coronavirus in B.C. That total includes 109 people who are hospitalized, 41 of them in intensive care.
Since the pandemic began, B.C. has seen 147,271 total infections and 1,744 deaths from COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, 75.8 per cent of B.C. residents ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Among adults 18 and older, the first-dose rate is 77.2 per cent.
The province has administered 4,570,153 total vaccine doses, including 1,051,910 second doses. That means 24.3 per cent of adults in B.C. are now fully vaccinated, as are 22.7 per cent of those ages 12 and older.
“We are progressing well, and we need to keep going," Henry and Dix said. "For every person who gets vaccinated, it will allow us to gradually transition and safely reopen many things that have been on hold."
The pair also cautioned that the coronavirus continues to circulate, even as daily caseloads continue to drop.
"We still have new cases from community transmission every day," they said. "That is why, whether you live in the North, on the Coast or in the Interior, we strongly encourage everyone to get fully vaccinated as soon as you are eligible."
The largest share of the new cases recorded Wednesday was found not in the Fraser Health region, which has seen the highest rates of transmission in B.C. for most of the pandemic, but in Interior Health.
There were 41 new cases in Interior Health Wednesday, compared to 30 in Fraser Health, 13 in Vancouver Coastal Health, three in Island Health and none in Northern Health.
TWO NEW CARE HOME OUTBREAKS
Dix and Henry also announced two new outbreaks of COVID-19, at Hollyburn House long-term care home in West Vancouver and at Minoru Residence in Richmond.
In separate releases earlier in the day, Vancouver Coastal Health said two people at each facility had tested positive.
Minoru Residence was the site of a deadly outbreak of the coronavirus during B.C.'s second wave. Seventy-seven people at the facility tested positive during the outbreak, which began on Dec. 21. Sixty-six of those infected were residents, and 17 of them died.
The outbreak at Hollyburn House is also the facility's second. The care home was among the first in B.C. to record a COVID-19 case back in March 2020. Only one person - a resident - tested positive in that outbreak, according to data from the provincial government. No one died.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.