Health minister Adrian Dix looks on as chief provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on COVID-19, Saturday, March 28, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Government of B.C.
March 17, 2021 - 4:37 PM
B.C. health officials announced 498 new COVID-19 cases today, 31 of which were within Interior Health, for a total of 89,427 since the start of the pandemic.
There are 4,851 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 9,472 people under active public health monitoring. There are also 281 people hospitalized with COVID-19, while 83 of whom are in intensive care. Four more people have also died of the disease.
To date, 444,140 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,093 of which are second doses. Vaccine appointment bookings are open for people over age 82, adding one year each day this week for people 80 and older by the end of the week, along with Indigenous peoples over 65.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that how we spend time with family and friends is different than what we did before. As we did last summer, it means using our layers of protection and always having safety top of mind," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a press release today, March 17.
"We can renew those important social connections, and the public health orders now allow for outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people in public spaces or outside our homes. If you choose to see others, then please connect safely, so you are not inadvertently increasing the risks to your loved ones or yourself."
There have been 128 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 291 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 12 in the Island Health region, 31 in the Interior Health region, 36 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
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