VANCOUVER -- B.C. health officials capped off another record-setting week for COVID-19 cases in B.C. by announcing 272 more had been confirmed Friday.
The province has now added at least 200 coronavirus cases to its total for 10 straight days.
The written statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix also announced one additional death.
There are currently 2,390 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., which is the highest active caseload the province has ever recorded.
That total includes 78 people who are hospitalized with the disease, 25 of whom are in intensive care.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 14,381 confirmed cases in B.C. and 263 deaths.
Henry and Dix also announced three health-care outbreaks and one community outbreak in their statement, though they did not provide details on cases associated with any of them.
The three health-care facilities with new outbreaks are Hawthorne Seniors Care Community in Port Coquitlam, CareLife Fleetwood in Surrey and Queen’s Park Hospital unit 3C NMSK 2 in New Westminster.
The health officials said the community outbreak is at Suncor Firebag Oil Sands, which is in Alberta. Previous outbreaks related to work camps in Alberta have caused clusters of cases in B.C.
Henry and Dix said previous outbreaks at Fort Langley Seniors Community, The Village and Sunset Manor and Good Samaritan Victoria Heights have been declared over.
As of Friday's update, there are 24 outbreaks in long-term care and assisted-living facilities in B.C., as well as two in acute-care facilities.
The statement from Dix and Henry reiterated the message they've been sharing all week: That private parties and gatherings have been contributing to B.C.'s rise in cases and need to stop.
“Now is not the time for parties or large gatherings in our homes," the pair said. "Instead, let’s spend time with others in a safe way, outside or in venues that have COVID-19 safety plans in place."
They also repeated their call for British Columbians to respect households choosing not to participate in Halloween festivities this year because of virus concerns.
COVID-19 exposure events continue to occur throughout the province, Henry and Dix said, noting that there are currently 6,003 people under active public health monitoring because they are close contacts of known cases of the disease.
Most of B.C.'s confirmed cases have been located in the Lower Mainland. That includes 8,219 cases that have been recorded in the Fraser Health region and 4,664 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in the province, there have been 741 confirmed cases in Interior Health, 412 in Northern Health and 256 in Island Health. There have also been 89 cases recorded in B.C. among people who reside outside Canada.
A total of 11,670 people who have had COVID-19 in B.C. are now considered recovered.
