Marcia Carr, 73, who returned to nursing during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic after four years in retirement, in New Westminster, B.C., on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Carr is among retired and current health-care professionals waiting to be deployed to immunization clinics, mobile units or wherever they’re needed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. reports 617 more COVID-19 cases, 18 more deaths

Gathering, travel restrictions extended to Feb. 5

B.C. reported another 617 cases of COVID-19 on Friday, with more than half in the Fraser Health region, with 18 more deaths province-wide.

As of midnight Jan. 7, there were 358 people in hospital with conditions related to the novel coronavirus, 75 in intensive care. The rest of the 6,118 active cases are recovering at home in isolation, B.C. public health officials reported Jan. 8.

Of the new cases, there were 320 reported in the Fraser Health region, 139 in Vancouver Coastal, 81 in Interior Health, 49 in Northern Health and 27 on Vancouver Island.

No new health care facility outbreaks were reported. Outbreaks at Tabor Home in Abbotsford, Amenida Senior Community in Surrey, Royal Arch Masonic Home in Vancouver, North Peace Seniors Housing in Fort St. John and Rotary Manor in Dawson Creek have been declared over.

“Long-term care outbreaks have been at the forefront of our minds and our hearts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a statement. “Each day, more of our seniors and Elders who live in these homes, as well as the people who care for them, are protected with the vaccine.”

B.C. reported 761 new cases Thursday, an increase from the previous week that was likely made larger by a shift in data reporting procedures for COVID-19 cases. Daily cases are now reported from midnight to midnight each day, combined with data from each of five regional health authorities on the number of people in hospital and intensive care with the novel coronavirus.

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