B.C. records 749 new cases of COVID-19, nine more deaths

British Columbia has recorded another 749 cases of COVID-19 as it nears a total of 187,000 infections in the province.

Interior Health had 157 of the new cases announced on Thursday.

Nine more people have died, amounting to 1,962 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The number of people in intensive care has been rising and is now at 145, up from 142 a day earlier, with most hospitalizations among those who are unvaccinated.

The Health Ministry says 80.6 per cent of people who ended up in hospital in the last couple of weeks had not been fully vaccinated.

It says 81 per cent of eligible people aged 12 and up have now received both doses of a vaccine, but the provincial health officer, health minister and premier have called on more people to get immunized.

The Surrey Board of Education has said it is working with Fraser Health to consider hosting vaccine clinics to raise vaccination rates.