VICTORIA -- Nine more cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Island Health region, health officials announced Tuesday.
The region has now seen 838 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, 65 of which are currently active.
Of the island’s active cases, 31 are found in the South Island, 24 are located in the Central Island and 10 are currently active in the North Island.
Across B.C., 444 cases of COVID-19 were discovered over the past 24 hours. Twelve more people have also died of the virus, bringing the province's death toll to 777.
"We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic," said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a joint written statement.
In the Island Health region, five people are currently in hospital for treatment of the virus while one person is receiving critical care.
Tuesday’s update comes the same day that B.C.’s top doctor received her first COVID-19 vaccine dose.
Henry received the immunization on Vancouver Island, alongside other frontline health-care workers and long-term care workers.
"Since the start of immunizations, 4,108 people have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in B.C., and today, vaccine clinics got underway in the Island Health, Interior Health and Northern Health regions, as well as those in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal," said Henry and Dix.
"Vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna have also provided guidance on how to safely transport the approved vaccines. This means that as deliveries increase in the coming weeks, the vaccine will increasingly be available in more locations," said the pair.
