VICTORIA -- Eleven more people died of COVID-19 in British Columbia Tuesday as health officials announced a record-breaking 717 new cases of the coronavirus.
The new cases shattered the previous total set on Sunday, when 659 cases were identified. There are now 6,589 active cases of the coronavirus in B.C., beating a previous record set just one day prior.
There are now 198 people in hospital with the disease, including 63 people in intensive care.
An additional 10,960 people are under active public health monitoring due to exposure to known cases of COVID-19.
The province’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 310.
Health officials also confirmed a new health-care outbreak on Vancouver Island at the Tsawaayuss-Rainbow Gardens in Port Alberni.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said Tuesday that the rise in new cases in places like Vancouver Island is linked, at least in part, to travel to and from the Greater Vancouver area.
“We have seen an increase in new cases on Vancouver Island, in the Interior and in the North, many of which are connected to travel to and from the Lower Mainland,” the officials said. “That is why [it is] important that we stay local and travel less right now.”
The vast majority of the new cases reported Tuesday are located in the Lower Mainland, with 484 in the Fraser Health region and 177 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in B.C., health officials identified 16 new cases in the Island Health region, 18 in Interior Health and 21 in Northern Health. One new case was also reported in someone who lives outside of the country.
There have been 23,661 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. since the pandemic began. Approximately 16,469 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have recovered.
