Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks to reporters from Vancouver as Health Minister Adrian Dix looks on Dec. 29, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C.
February 26, 2021 - 3:48 PM
After dropping below 500 new COVID-19 cases per day earlier this week, the daily case count jumped to 589 today. That includes 39 in the Interior Health region in the last 24 hours.
Most of those new cases, 317, were in the Fraser Health region with another 157 in Vancouver Coastal, according to a joint statement issued by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix today, Feb. 26.
There were another 31 on Vancouver Island and 45 in the North.
The numbers are provisional due to some delays in reporting from labs.
With seven new deaths,1,355 B.C. residents have died of the disease during the pandemic.
There are 4,665 active cases in B.C. with 232 people in hospital, of whom 63 are in intensive care.
On the good news side, 252,373 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, 73,808 of which are second doses.
The immunization rate will soon increase now that two new vaccines have been approved for use in Canada, the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Verity-Serum from India.
"Unlike the vaccines that have been available to date, this new, two-dose viral vector vaccine has the benefit of being 'fridge stable,' making it much easier to transport and distribute around the province,” the statement said. "This new vaccine will be integrated into our provincial immunization program as delivery and supply is confirmed in the coming weeks.”
Dr. Henry will give an update on B.C.'s vaccination plans on Monday, March 1.
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