There are 121 people in hospital with the disease, 56 of whom are in intensive care
B.C. health officials announced 689 new cases of COVID-19 Thurday, the second highest number of new cases in a 24-hour period since May 7. Two more people have died.
In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said there are currently 5,982 active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.
A total of 121 people are in hospital, the highest number of new hospitalizations since June 19. Of those patients, 56 are in intensive care, up from 33 a week ago.
Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are up 49 per cent from last Thursday, when 81 people were in hospital with the disease.
The provincial death toll from the disease is now 1,784 lives lost. There have been 158,256 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C. to date.
The regional breakdown of new cases is as follows:
278 new cases in Interior Health, which has 3,368 total active cases.
219 new cases in Fraser Health, which has 1,112 total active cases.
123 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, which has 908 total active cases.
42 new cases in Island Health, which has 346 total active cases.
27 new cases in Northern Health, which has 239 total active cases.
There are no new cases among people who reside outside of Canada, a group which has nine total active cases.
There are 11 active outbreaks in assisted living and long-term care. Of those, eight are in Interior Health and three are in Fraser Health. The outbreak at the Discovery Harbour long-term care facility in the Island Health region has been declared over.
As of Thursday, 82.9 per cent of those 12 and older in B.C. had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 74 per cent a second dose.
So far, 7,280,835 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 3,431,103 second doses.
