B.C. health minister Adrian Dix speaks to reporters, Dec. 10, 2020 as provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry look on.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C.

B.C. health officials announced 640 new cases of COVID-19 today, raising the provincewide total to 44,103.

Of those cases, 91 were in Interior Health, 98 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 399 new cases in the Fraser Health region, five in the Island Health region, and 47 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada, according to a joint statement issued today, Dec. 16, by health minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

There were also 24 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 692 deaths in British Columbia.

While the numbers paint a grim picture change is afoot. There were 409 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine given to B.C. front-line health-care workers. Starting next week, the province will receive weekly vaccine deliveries for clinics in every health region throughout the province. Specific timing will be provided once confirmed.

"We can all be a part of B.C.'s COVID-19 response team - the team that is pulling together and making a difference through this difficult time. Our team is made of hundreds of thousands of people throughout B.C. who are doing their part - at work, at school and at home," Dix and Dr. Henry said in the statement.

They asked that people remember their layers of protection and follow all of the public health orders, especially during the holiday season.

"Many people have already made the commitment to make their holiday celebrations safe celebrations - by staying small and connecting virtually instead," Dix and Henry said. There are countless creative ways for us to have those important connections and also protect our communities and the people we care for most. Let's continue to do our part and break the chain of transmission in B.C."

There are 362 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, 91 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

Currently, 10,538 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases and a further 32,376 people who tested positive have recovered.

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