B.C. reported 589 new cases today and seven new deaths. There are currently 4,665 active confirmed cases and over 8,000 people are being monitored as identified close contacts of positive cases.
Since last March, 73,188 people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. A total of 1,355 people have died as a result of the virus. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix put the number of hospitalized patients at 232 people, 63 of whom are in intensive care.
The breakdown of new cases per region are as follows: 157 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 317 in Fraser Health, 31 in Island Health, 39 in Interior Health and 45 in Northern Health.
There are no new outbreaks in health care facilities, but as of the last report there were 13 active outbreaks.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use today, and is causing excitement because it’s fridge stable, making distribution and storage a lot easier.
As of Friday, 178,565 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19; 73,808 of them have received both doses.
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