B.C. averages 360 new COVID-19 cases per day over weekend
B.C. is reporting 1,079 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend.
That includes 422 cases on Saturday, 364 on Sunday and 293 today.
Fifty-four per cent of the weekend cases were in Interior Health (IH) with 587, and IH now has 1,755 active cases.
New restrictions were added in the Central Okanagan almost two weeks ago due to rising cases, and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says they’ve been watching the new case numbers very closely.
“We are seeing a levelling, but we have not yet seen a decrease in cases, and it continues to be primarily in settings where younger people are coming together and are unvaccinated,” Henry told a media conference Monday.
In the past 72 hours, five new deaths have been reported for an overall total of 1,777. Four of the deaths were in Interior Health and the other one in Northern Health.
There are currently 3,036 active cases in the province, with 68 people in hospital and 20 in intensive care.
The new/active cases include:
* 258 new cases in Fraser Health
* Total active cases: 586
* 142 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health
* Total active cases: 387
* 587 new cases in Interior Health
* Total active cases: 1,755
* 30 new cases in Northern Health
* Total active cases: 108
* 62 new cases in Island Health
* Total active cases: 188
* no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada
* Total active cases: 12
There are seven active outbreaks long-term care: Holyrood Manor; Kin Village West Court (Fraser Health); Nelson Jubilee Manor; Kootenay Street Village; Cottonwoods Care Centre; Brookhaven Care Centre (Interior Health); and Discovery Harbour (Island Health).
There are no active outbreaks in acute care, assisted or independent living.
Just over seven million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in B.C.
As of today, 82.0 percent (3,801,960) of eligible people 12 and older have received their first dose and 70.3 per cent (3,257,931) have had two doses.
To help address community outbreaks and increased cases of the virus among people who have only one dose of the vaccine, the province will begin offering second-dose appointments at an earlier interval based on vaccine and appointment availability.
Currently, invitations for the second dose go to people 49 days after their first dose. The province is transitioning toward offering second-dose vaccinations for people as early as 28 days after their first dose.
Starting this evening, Monday, Aug. 9, invitations to book second-dose appointments will be sent based on the new 28-day minimum interval. This timeframe will be the same for those who received Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca for their first dose.
Receiving a second dose earlier is particularly important in high-transmission communities. The recommendation from public health for those not living or working in high-transmission communities continues to be to wait six to eight weeks after the first dose to receive the second dose.