B.C. recorded 185 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, up from 150 the day before, as a regional outbreak was declared for the Central Okanagan with mask orders for public indoor spaces returning on Thursday.
Serious illness from COVID-19 remains low, with 47 people in hospital Wednesday, up from 44 in the past 24 hours, and 20 in intensive care, down from 22 on Tuesday. There were three more coronavirus-related deaths reported July 28, all in the Vancouver Coastal health region, for a total of 1,771 since the pandemic began in early 2020.
There are 909 active cases province-wide, up from 783 in the past 24 hours, with most of them being found in the Interior Health region. There are no new outbreaks in the B.C. health care system.
As vaccination rates slow down with the vast majority of adults immunized, the province has embarked on a two-week vaccination push with no-appointment clinics at community centres, and mobile vans at beaches, ferry terminals and other summer gathering spots. Click here for the full list of locations.
The effort includes “Walk-in Wednesday” on Aug. 4, where all established vaccination clinics will welcome people without appointments, to administer first doses or second doses to those who have gone at least 49 days since their first shot. Appointments can still be made, and those without them should bring identification and their vaccine record card if they have one.
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As of July 28, 80.9 per cent or 3.7 million eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 63.2% (2.9 million) have received their second dose.
Today’s new and active cases by region:
• 35 new cases in Fraser Health, 208 active
• 26 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 136 active
• 113 new cases in Interior Health, 503 active
• two new cases in Northern Health, 16 active
• eight new cases in Island Health, 41 active
• one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada, five active
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