VICTORIA -- The president of British Columbia's largest health authority says multi-day events including weddings, funerals and gender-reveal parties have caused a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Victoria Lee, the CEO of Fraser Health, says different groups of up to 50 people typically come together for a single event that can go on for days.

She says about 70 per cent of the record number of 203 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday were linked to Fraser Health, which serves a mostly urban population of 1.8 million people.

Lee says people should stick to the same six people beyond those in their household to keep cases low at a time when “pandemic fatigue” is setting in.

She says some gatherings are being reported to municipalities and that may require the authority to have “further conversations” around bylaw officers enforcing measures aimed at reducing the spread of the pandemic.

Lee says the recent high number of cases could also be linked to gatherings at Thanksgiving.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2020.