Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company's lab, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. British Columbia has reported 549 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death, bringing the active case count to 4,483. The province says there are two new outbreaks at school in Interior Health. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
November 05, 2021 - 5:14 PM
VICTORIA - British Columbia's active COVID-19 cases are down to 4,483 people, while the province added another 549 new infections on Friday.
A Health Ministry statement says there are outbreaks at King's Christian School and Vernon Christian School within the Interior Health authority, and 37 active outbreaks in hospitals, long-term care and other facilities.
One person died in the Northern Health authority, lifting the death toll to 2,201 people.
The vaccination rate for eligible people 12 and older for the first shot has reached 90.2 per cent and 85.7 per cent have received their second dose.
The B.C. government's latest move to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is the phaseout of all nine mink farms in the province.
Health officials say the threat of COVID-19 transmission between mink and humans is too high and announced a permanent ban on breeding mink, with full closures of the farms by 2025.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2021.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2021